Big Brother Knows Best
by FriedaIsBestGirl
Summary: A boy joins the Cadets in 839, intent on joining the Scouts. He becomes blunt and sarcastic after his first year there, but he meets a girl while in Trost. She is the key to everything, maybe not his heart, but once she finds out he isn’t a sinner, she cant help but feel attracted to him. Major Spoilers for Anime only fans. Heavy cannon changes inbound.
1. Cadets

(Year 839, Wall Rose Territory)

"Listen up shit stains!" The Commandant yelled at the top of his lungs at the children that were all assembled wearing their standard cadet jackets. "My name is Alexander Freed! I will be adressed as Sir or Commandant for the next three years that I waste training you all!" He yelled, the heavy sun not doing anyone any favours when it came to sweating.

"For the next three soul shattering years you will be stuck with me! If you can't handle what the 96th Cadet Corps has to offer, then you might as well fuck off right now!" He screamed down at them. "This is going to be your worst nightmare multiplied by ten! That is if you're not stupid enough to understand that! You will learn to hate me, and I will learn to despise you, I will have you run until you collapse if you disrespect me in any way, shape or form!" The cadets all glanced at one another at that, they didn't want to run until they collapsed.

"But most importantly, this is where you learn to fight! When you leave here you should be able to take on a Titan by yourself! But that's only if you don't freeze up like a coward! Many soldiers have died because of their own fear! It is my job to make you more afraid of me than the Titans, because if I hear if you died because of that, I will bring you back to life and unleash hell upon you!" He yelled at them, finally finishing his inspiration speech. "Now form ranks!" He ordered.

"You there! Girlie!" He yelled, stopping in front of a girl with short blonde hair. "Who the hell do you think you are? Staining my vision with your presence, what's your name?" He yelled in her face, getting her to gulp in nervousness before replying.

"Sir!" She saluted him. "My name is Nanaba-" She started before she was cut off by him.

"I don't give a shit who you are!" He yelled at her. "You look like a boy with that short hair!" He stated. "Did you do that to stop being discriminated against for being a woman in the military? Well tough shit! Nobody's going to fall for that, it's gonna be even worse from now on! Now why the hell are you here?"

"I'm here to offer my heart to humanity's cause Sir!" She yelled back, not breaking her salute for a second.

The Commandant stared at her for a second before replying. "Then I'm sure the Titans will love to find out what you taste like! I bet you taste like shit!" He yelled just before he moved on to the next poor soul.

"Hey pompadour!" He yelled at a boy in the next row after finishing off the first row. "What kind of shitty haicut is that? Why the fuck are you here?" He yelled in his face.

"Sir!" He saluted him just like the others had done. "My name is Gelgar-"

"I didn't ask for your name fuck stick!" The Commandant yelled down at him. "I asked why the fuck you decided to grace me with your presence!"

"I joined so that I could help humanity in it's fight against the Titans!" Gelgar yelled out, getting the attention of some of the recruits for his bold statement.

"Oh, is that so?" The Commandant asked him. "Well I hope you enjoy getting chewed on by one thats only twice your size." He whispered in his ear. "I hear that's how the Scouts survive longest, by getting eaten by the smallest Titans." He said, walking away to terrorise one of the other recruits.

Off to the side, two men and a women were conversing, the woman had been in the Scouts for just over two years while the two men had been in significantly longer than her.

"Anyone here catch your eye?" The tallest one asked to the two others.

"Not particularly." The woman answered. "Then again, I spent the last two years hating the Titans, but now I'm going to convince Commander Shadis to let me capture one for experiments!"

"How are you going to do that? You going to seduce him?" The tall one asked with a smirk on his face, getting the woman to blush at his suggestion. "If he won't accept Erwin's long range scouting formation then why would he risk his soldiers lives to capture a single Titan?"

"Because science is important Mike." The woman replied. "Imagine the data we could gather with one prime specimin, I could give him a name, and become friends with him. I wonder if they can talk, hey Erwin- Erwin?" She asked, seeing that he was staring at one of the recruits in particular.

The boy in question was probably twelve years old, about four foot seven inches tall, short black hair. His eyes were noticeably black as well, which was strange since she had never met someone with black eyes before. But the thing was that he was shaking, was he that scared?

"He looks like he's about to shit himself." Mike commented. "Wait till the Commandant gets a look at him. Probably send him running for the hills after one look."

"He actually looks kinda adorable." The woman commented.

"Seriously Hange?" Mike asked. "Don't tell me you've set your eyes on a kid."

"Don't be ridiculous." Hange scoffed. "I was merely stating that I find it cute that he's so afraid of the rite of passage. But I will admit I'm curious as to how he handles the Commandant, he was a notorious MP before he retired to the training corps."

"Looks like you'll get to see." The other blonde man commented. "The Commandant is storming towards him right now."

"Hey short stack!" He yelled into his face. "I can't tell if that's your actual hair colour or if you never fucking wash it! Why the fuck did you bring your filthy ass to my training camp?" He screamed, spit flying into the face of the terrified boy.

"This ought to be good." Mike smirked at the prospect of the boy being terrified out of his mind.

The boy pounded his fist over his heart, determined to show the Commandant that he wasn't afraid. "I've come to join the Survey Corps!" He yelled back at the Commandant, who glared back at the boy, breaking his resolve slightly.

"Is that so?" The Instructor asked. "Then I assume that you have no problem being eaten by a Titan then? Or maybe they'll ignore you since your so fucking filthy."

"I joined up knowing that I might have to make the ultimate sacrifice Sir." The boy responded. "And while I may not want to die, I am prepared to do so to ensure that humanity continues to survive!"

In all his years of being an Instructor, Freed had never came across someone who had willingly tried to argue with him at the rite of passage. So he did the one thing that he felt he should do, and that was yell at the boy.

"I think you're full of shit!" He yelled back at the boy. "All the Scouts do is get paid hard earned money that came from the people to fatten up the Titans! That's why they always come back with half their forces eaten, because the Titans love to chew on them for fun!"

"That's not true!" The boy cried out, surprising the Commandant and the three Scouts who were all watching with a keen interest now. "Every time the Scouts come back they prove that they can fight back against the Titans, and until we stop fighting, humanity will never be defeated!"

"You little shit! You dare disrespect me, infront of the whole class. I'll show you discipline boy." He said, raising his hand into the air, a fist formed ready to strike until a voice stopped him.

"Commandant Freed!" The voice boomed, getting the attention of him and everyone else there. "Were you just about to strike an unarmed child for not only providing an inspirational speech for fighting against the Titans, but also because you feel he disrespected you for doing so?"

"Erwin." The man growled out. "How I treat my recruits is none of your business. Don't you have an expedition to be eaten on or something like that? You'll do better at that than trying to persuade any recruits to join the Scouts."

"I suggest you leave the boy alone before I report your behaviour to Premier Zackly." Erwin threatened. "I'm sure he'd love to hear about the abuse of soldiers to be from a former protector of the people."

"Fine." He conceded, but not before leaning into the boys ear and whispering somethinh into it. "I'm going to make your life a living hell here you filthy shit."

"Second row, about face!" He yelled out as he continued along the path of the other cadets, insulting them, degrading them, but leaving some of them out as some didn't need to redo the right of passage after already experiencing something traumatic in their past.

"Why'd you stop the Instructor Erwin?" Mike asked him. "Physical abuse, no matter how bad it may seem to children, is quite a common occurence in the cadets. Even Premier Zackly ignores the cases that are brought up to him about it."

"The boy, he intrigues me you could say." Erwin responded as they watched the rest of the rite of passage for the other cadets. "It's not often that you see a fresh cadet stand up to the views of the non believers such as Instructor Freed. Plus, the speech was quite good, he seems to be a natural born leader, especially if he could produce speeches like that constantly. This will definitely be an interesting batch of recruits."

Later that night after the Instructor had put them through some rigorous physical training such as push ups, sit ups and running around the training camp, they had all been allowed to retire for the night, with their third meal of the day, which was just soup and semi stale bread, they were allowed rations of beef on the second Friday of every month though, despite the price there was still plenty of farmland throughout Wall Maria to supply the trainees for the next few years.

The boy that was grilled by the Instructor for wanting to join the Scouts was sitting at a table by himself currently, the Instructor had a field day with him, his body was aching from the days training, couple that with the old clothes he had to wear because his family lived in the woods meant that it wasn't a pretty sight, his clothes were ragged and worn out, but he still looked proud of himself, there were many others who had dropped out after only the first day of training.

"Is this seat taken?" Someone asked, taking him away from his thoughts, he looked up to see the girl from before, Nanaba he believed her name was.

"You can sit there." He responded, hiding his nervousness at meeting new people, living in the forest meant wuite a sheltered childhood, although not to the extent that his sister had so far, after he had signed up for the cadets, his mother made it her mission to protect her only daughter from any harm in this world.

"Thanks." She smiled at him, setting her food down. "My name is Nanaba." She politely introduced herself, seeing that he made no move to further the conversation, she continued. "I liked how you stood up for what you believed in against the Instructor. It was brave to do that."

"It was nothing." He insisted. "I just thought that the Instructor was wrong, so I gave him my own opinion on the Scouts." He replied to her, realising he hadn't given her his name. "Sorry, where are my manners?" He jokingly asked himself. "My name is Lucas, it's nice to meet you Nanaba." He gave her a small smile.

"Hey guys." The boy with the pompadour haircut came up to the table. "Room for one more?" He asked.

"Sure." Nanaba replied. "Don't see any problem with that."

"Thanks." He sat down next to Lucas. "I'm Gelgar. Nice to meet you two." He greeted them.

"I'm Nanaba, nice to meet you too." She replied.

"I'm Lucas. Nice to meet you as well." Lucas replied to him.

"Saw you getting grilled by the Instructor." Gelgar nodded at Lucas. "He seemed to be going pretty hard on you today. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to piss him off." Gelgar suggested.

"You've been here for less than a minute and you're already talking about that." Nanaba deadpanned. "I think the speech he gave was good, it suits you." She said to Lucas.

"You sure about that?" Gelgar asked. "I think he may be more suited to the support kinda role. Given his lack of height... and muscles."

"What's your problem?" Nanaba asked. "Just because he isn't physical doesn't mean he can't be a good soldier. It takes more than brawn to be a soldier, I'm sure there are plenty of soldiers who can attest to that."

"I don't have a problem here." Gelgar insisted. "Look, sorry if I offended you in any way." He apologised. "I didn't mean anything by it, I just pointed out that you should try and improve on certain areas with your training."

"It's fine." Lucas replied. "I've always been a small kid with no strength. My dad always told me that there's something hidden within, that my true strength just needs something to come to life." He told them both. "He wouldn't say what he meant, only that I would know when it happened."

"Hmm." Gelgar sounded out. "Sounds rather cryptic, you sure he wasn't just talking about something else entirely?"

"No, he said that I had the potential to go further than any soldier that came before me." Lucas replied. "That's the main reason that my mom let me join the cadets, on the basis that I realise this supposed potential of mine. If not, I'm supposed to join the Garrison. But the Scouts is the only option I see myself going for, I've always wanted to see the world beyond the Walls."

"I'm sure your mom is just worried about you." Namaba said to him, taking a bite out of her bread. "My dad was totaly opposed to me joining up, we fought and I stormed out."

"Hey, your dad said you could become strong right?" Gelgar asked, getting a nod from Lucas in return. "Then he must be strong as well, how strong was he?"

"We live in the woods, me, my mom, dad and little sister. My dad often goes out hunting, I once saw him carrying a fully grown deer once. I tried to drag it but could only move it a few inches." He replied, getting Gelgar to scoff at him.

"No way. That's gotta be at least two hundred kilos. No way he could lift that." Gelgar didn't believe him, but Lucas didnt tell him that his father didn't seem to break a sweat in lifting the deer off the ground, it was like a feather to him.

"If that's how strong you could be then I hope we can stay friends." Nanaba laughed. "I'd hate to get on your bad side only for you to break me in half."

"Looks like he has a long way to go." Gelgar commented, albeit in a joking manner. "But if you believe you can do it, then go for it. I won't try and hold you back."

Thanks guys." Lucas said to them, grateful for their words. "I hope we can stay friends as well. It'd be great to fight alongside you guys one day."

"Easy there." Gelgar tried to calm down. "We've still got three more years left to go here. Don't think you've graduated just yet."

"Hey, you said you had a sister, right?" Nanaba asked him.

"Yeah, I did. What about her?" He responded.

"What's her name? And what's she like?" Nanaba asked, getting Lucas to smile, he loved his little sister and would do everything in his power to keep her safe, especially since they were the last of their kind within the walls.

"Her name is Mikasa." He told her. "She's four years old now, she's just adorable with how innocent she is. My mom seems to have made it her mission to protect her, especially after I told them I wanted to join the cadets." He was full on smiling bow at the thought of his little sister. "But... she's also the last of her race, an Oriental, my mom is as well. That's another reason I joined up, so that I could protect them, human trafficking is a huge market in the underground, if they found out where we lived... they wouldn't be safe."

"Sounds like you care about her a lot." Nanaba observed. "Kinda makes me jealous that I don't have a sibling to look out for me like that."

The bell went shortly after, signalling curfew for the trainees.

"See you guys tomorrow for the aptitude test." Nanaba said to them.

"You bet." Gelgar replied. "We're all gonna pass with flying colours, isn't that right Lucas."

"I hope so Gelgar, I hope so." He whispered to himself. "See you tomorrow Nanaba."

(840, 1 year after aptitude test)

It had been a whole year since the aptitude test, and while Nanaba and Gelgar had passed quite easily, it took Lucas several attempts to stay upright. The Instructor was ready to throw him out if it wasn't for Nanaba and Gelgar sticking up for him, earning them twenty laps, but Lucas another shot which he barely passed at.

Now he was currently training with the ODM gear in the training forest, they were scheduled to move onto training with blades the next week, but those struggling had to pass the test on Saturday to see if they were fit enough to wield blades without killing one of their comrades on accident.

Now while he had been training for the better part of a year with the ODM gear, Lucas Ackerman as Nanaba and Gelgar had learned his full nane was, still strugged with the gear, he could just about move in a straight line but struggled to keep his balance while turning or adjusting his bosy in any way. So Gelgar and Nanaba had taken to helping him improve with the movement so he wasn't kicked out before he could join the Scouts.

"You have to keep yourself balanced at your core Lucas." Gelgar said to him. "If you don't keep yourself balanced then you're more likely to crash. Its only a matter of time before you get the hang of it. Right Nanaba."

"Guys, I really appreciate what you're doing for me, really, I do... but this isn't working out like I hoped it would." He sounded dejected now. "Maybe I should accept that I wasn't meant to be a soldier, the only thing I'm any good at is the classwork, and that means nothing in Titan territory." He sighed to himself. "Maybe I should just give up while I still can."

"You can't give up!" Nanaba practically yelled at him, grabbing his hand with her cheeks turning red, she may have developed a small crush on him over the past year, it also helped that she was taller than him, which she found adorable, especially when he pouted.

"You're the most driven person I've ever met." She told him. "You always helped me with the classwork, even if I seemed like a burden you always helped me, so that's why I'm always going to help you, even if it looks bad for you now. I'm sure we'll find the light somehow, you always seem to after all."

"Thanks Nanaba." He said, his cheeks also turning red as she was still holding his hand, to which Gelgar smirked at, it was obvious that she liked him, he was either too dense, or too stupid to see it. "But I'm out of gas now, looks like I'll have to walk back anyway. You guys can go on without me." He insisted.

"I'll go on ahead." Gelgar offered. "I'll tell the instructor that both of you ran out of gas. It'll give you some time alone in the forest." He winked at Lucas as he took off towards the camp, with Nanaba glaring daggers at him.

"What's that all about?" Lucas asked Nanaba, but instead of a reply, all he got was a chuckle out of her.

After a few minutes of walking through the forest they both heard rustling in the bushes to their right and out stumbled one fof their fellow cadets covered in blood with claw marks on his face and a chunk of flesh missing from his shoulder.

Before either of them could step forward and help him a brown bear followed him out of the bushes, it's face covered in what looked like the cadet's blood, Lucas also noticed it's claws also had blood on them, indicating it was that bear that had attacked him.

"Shit! What do we do?" Nanaba asked, panick setting in now, she didn't want to leave the boy to die, but she didn't particularly want to get mauled by a bear.

The bear then pounced on the poor cadet who was trying to stumble away from it, and bit into his neck as the boy squirmed underneath, crying out in pain as he slowly bled out underneath the bear as it drank up his blood and ate his flesh, much like a Titan would.

"I didn't know bears ate people!" Nanaba whispered at Lucas, he was a good hunter and had a decent knowledge of hunting as a result of his rural upbringing.

"Bears don't usually kill people." He whispered back. "The majority of bears only kill humans in self defence. They aren't usually agressive unless you enter it's den or it has cubs, but even then they usually don't kill even if provoked, they'll usually just bluff a charge at a person."

"It's looking at us." Nanaba cut him off. "And it looks like it doesn't care about what you have to say about what usually happens in the wild. It's about to charge at us."

"You need to run Nanaba." He told her quickly. "I'll distract it while you get the Instructor, he may be cruel but he won't willingly let his recruits die."

"What?" She asked, shocked that he would suggest that. "I'm not leaving you here defenceless against that killing machine! You'll die!"

"I won't die Nanaba, now please go. If olnot for you, do it for me." He pleaded. "Please. I don't want you to get hurt." He whispered to her.

"I'll be right back." She eventually said to him. "You better be fine when I get back!" She yelled as she used her gear to hurry back to the camp, determined to be as fast as possible to give him the best chance at survival. He wouldn't die, he was too driven to let a bear be the end of him, at least that's what she hoped for.

It took twelve minutes for Instructor Freed to gather the other Instructors and assemble a rescue party for Lucas and the other boy. Nanaba was panicking at the moment and so was Gelgar, they both hoped that he was still alive and not dead, but given the size of the bear and the lust for human blood it seemed to have, it wasn't likely that he had survived this long, especially since he was one of the weakest physically amonge the cadets, he was barely over five foot tall and couldn't beat anyone in a sparring match.

"Please be alright Lucas." She pleaded to herself. "I couldn't live with myself if you died because I left you there." She whispered to herself.

When they arrived where Nanaba had reported the attack, she was utterly shocked to see that the bear was lying dead while Lucas was sitting next to it, breathing heavily with three claw marks going from left to right across his chest, it had ripped through his shirt and was bleeding a fair bit.

"Nanaba." Instructor Freed spoke up. "Escort Cadet Ackerman to the infirmary now. See that the nurse tends to his wounds, after that I want a full report of what happened from the both of you, is that clear?"

"Yes Sir." She responded, helping Lucas onto his feet and helping him walk back to the camp. When they were nearly there she stopped him to ask him what happened.

"What happened?" She asked. "It lookee like you killed the bear, but you didn't have any weapons on you."

"I felt it." He replied. "After you left it got me with it's claws all I could think about was how it was going to kill me and I'd never see my family, Gelgar or you again. It pinned me down, but then when it tried to bite me, I grabbed it's leg and twisted it. The leg bone snapped like it was a twig."

"How is that even possible?" Nanaba asked him. "You do realise how much strength would be needed to do something like that."

"I don't think it was all about the srength Nanaba. I think... I knew what had to be done, that I had to kill it." He told her. "It was either me or the bear, and I felt it, like a surge of energy coursing through me."

"What do you mean?" She softly asked. "I don't think I understand."

"Nanaba, I think I'll pass the ODM test on Saturday. And before you ask, I know what I have to do now." She was about to protest but he grabbed her hand like she had done earlier that day. "Don't worry Nanaba. I'll pass, then I won't have to leave. Not before I join the Scouts."

She smiled at him right at that moment, because she believed him, she believed what he told her, about the bear, about the power. But most importantly, she believed in him.

(February 842, Trost District)

The week after the final winter training exercise was a week off for the cadets, and Lucas had decided to go home and visit his family for a few days since he hadn't seen them since he left, and despite his attitude problem that his mother had been concerned about, mainly because he had become extremely blunt and his mouth seemed to have no filter at all. Which lead to some heavy scolding for his swearing while Mikasa was in the room, she had smacked him on the head after he revealed his scar to them and casually told them about the ordeal, apparently Mikasa was to be sheltered as much as possible. His only saving grace seemed to be his father, who said that he was the same when he was younger. Despite all that, it was a happy reunion for them all, despite his reluctance to show it, he did love them all very much, especially Mikasa.

He was now in Trost wearing his uniform since it was basically the only clothes he had that fit him now, plus the winter jacket they were allowed to keep during the winter. He was only supposed to be passing through Trost on his way back to the training camp since the week was nearly over, but he couldn't help but stay for a few more hours, it had been snowing in Trost, so the roofs and streets were covered in a thin blanket of snow.

There was also something that caught his eye, there was a girl about the same age as him who was giving a child an apple. He could only see her from behind but she was wearing a winter coat as well, more expensive than his, he could tell that instantly. Her hood was down so he could see the straight black hair that reached her shoulders along with the thick pants she was wearing to keep her legs warm presumably.

There was something about the interaction that irked him though, and that was that she had just given food to what may have looked like a homeless child, but he was wearing a brand new pair of shoes, so she had been conned by a kid, all because she had tried to be nice. So being the unfiltered and blunt guy he was, he went over to say something as she waved to the boy who was running away from her now.

"If you feed a stray cat, It will keep coming back, expecting to be fed again." He said as the girl yelped, surprised by his sudden appearance.

"You scared me." She said, holding her hand over her heart. "I think you might've almost scared me to death." She joked, but not getting a laugh from him. "And I wasn't feeding a cat, I was feeding a poor boy who lives in the orphanage."

"You're very naive." He observed. "Don't tell me you actually believed that shitty brat lives in an orphanage."

"You don't think he lives in the orphanage?" She retorted. "What would give you that impression, and for the record, I am not naive."

"Sure you're not." He started walking in the direction the boy ran off in. "Follow me and you might learn a thing or two."

"You're a trainee." She stated, having noted the symbol on the back of his winter coat as he had started to walk off.

"What gave it away? Was it the boots I wear? Or maybe it's the way I carry myself. Or was it because of the bluntness of my previous statement?" He sarcastically asked, trying to irk her in the process.

"I know someone who acts a lot like you." She replied. "And I despise that man, always thinks he can do what he wants all the time with zero consequences."

"Surely you don't despise me!" He feigned hurt. "I don't even know your name and I'm already hated by you. Oh what did I do to deserve this?" He spoke sarcastically again, definitely trying to annoy her now.

"I don't despise you, but I'm seriously considering it. You're already acting like an insufferable child, and I've only known you for like three minutes!" She ranted.

"Tch, learn to take a fucking joke." He deadpanned. "Seriously though, it's far too easy to annoy you, and it your hair looks awful today." He told her, getting her to gasp in horror.

"What's wrong with my hair?" She demanded, grabbing onto it and looking for any part that wasn't brushed properly. "I was sure I brushed it today, where... you're doing it again, aren't you?"

"Told you. If you insult a girls hair they're bound to get annoyed to some extent. I learned that the hard way." He said to her. "On a serious note though, lose the naive attitude, it's something that people will take advantage of, especially if they can see it on you."

"I can't tell if you really meant that insult, or you were trying to give me advice." She spoke carefully. "But I still don't understand where we're even going."

"That kid that scammed you out of an apple, his shoes were brand new. It's easy to tell when your family basically lives in poverty and can barely afford any clothes." He explained to her. "That and the fact he was laughing at you, not smiling at you."

"Is that why you joined the cadets?" She asked. "What I mean is, did you join to get into the Military Police to get your family out of poverty?" She clarified for him.

"Tch, I didn't sign up to join those self absorbed assholes." He spat out. "I joined because I was an idiot, I was naive and thought that I could make a difference." He clicked his tongue in annoyance. "I declared to everyone on my first day that I would join the Scouts, got into an argument with the Instructor about it. I was one of the worst in the class for about a year, then I watched another cadet get mauled by a bear right infront of me."

"Thats awful." She interjected. "They didn't die, did they?" She asked carefully, not wanting to overstep her boundaries, especially if it was a sore subject for him.

"I realised that when the bear pinned me that I couldn't be that naive kid anymore, that I had to get a grip of I would end up dead, either by that bear or by a Titan if it came down to it. So I killed the bear and now I'm the best in the class according to my friends."

"You went from being the worst in the class to the best?" She asked, almost in disbelief. "Are you sure your friends aren't inflating your ego?"

"It got to the point where the Instructor had the boys cabin searched for any drugs that enhance performance." He replied, shrugging his shoulders. "I don't care for any honourifics given to me, I just want to graduate and join the Scouts. Maybe I'll die on my first expedition, maybe I'll kill every Titan in existence. Who knows?"

They turned a corner to see that they boy from before still had the apple in his hands, but he was with two others this time, and they were all making fun of a boy that was about the age of Mikasa who was a bit chubby looking.

"Come on Jean-boy." The biggest one taunted. "You're fat, don't you want this apple that I scammed that girl for. It was so easy, like taking candy from a- whoa!" He yelled as he was lifted into the air by Lucas by the collar of his jacket.

"You two." He pointed at the other two bullies. "Beat it before I break your bones. It can be very painful when it's easier than snapping a twig." He growled out, scaring them off rather easily.

The boy that was being bullied tried to leave as well but before he could Lucas stopped him. "Stay." He commanded. "You might learn a thing or two."

"Don't you think you should put him down now. You're going to choke him if you keep doing that." She protested.

"Now." He said as he took the apple out of the boys grasp. "Is there a reason that you thought it would be wise to steal an apple from my girlfriend?"

"What!" She shrieked.

"I didn't know she was your girlfriend!" He cried out. "I'm sorry Sir, it won't happen again."

"You boy." He pointed at the other kid. "What's your name?"

"It's J-jean Sir!" He stuttered out, making Lucas click his tongue in annoyance.

"Don't call me Sir again, understand?" He asked to which the boy furiously nodded. "Now Jean, does it hurt when they call you names, when they insult you?"

"Yes, it does." He answered slowly.

"I really think you should put him down, you're going to suffocate him!" She protested once again.

"Ignore her, she's too naive for her own good." He told the boy. "Now Jean, there's only two types of people in this world, the one that only cares for themselves, which sane people should be. Or people like her." He nodded at the girl. "The ones who don't see the bigger picture, and care too much about other people and what they say around them. I used to be one of them, but I realised that I'd never become as strong as I wanted if I remained like that, so I adapted, and you should too. That's the only way you'll survive when everything goes to shit. Only by caring about yourself will you ever survive longer than anyone else, but then again, I made the decision to join the military, so I'm just talking out of my ass at this point."

He then looked to the kid who he was still holding who was turning blue in the face at this point so he dropped him and then threatened him. "Beat it you shitty brat before I shove my foot so far up your ass that you'd be able to spit shine my boot!" He hissed at him, with the kid running off with tears in his eyes and coughing loudly due to the lack of oxygen intake.

Taking the apple he kneeled down face to face with Jean and placed the apple in his hand but didn't let go. "Jean, don't let the insults of others get to you, it doesn't matter what they think about you. It only matters what you think about yourself. Don't be afraid to be who you are, don't hold back your words because your afriad you'll hurt someone's feelings, because they won't hold back either. You understand that." Jean nodded while Lucas looked over to the unnamed girl who was smiling at him now. "Now beat it brat! Before I shove my boot up your ass!"

Jean quickly took off in another direction while he stood up, dusting the snow off his knee where he had kneeled on.

"I see." She spoke up. "You can actually be nice when you want to be, you're just agraid of showing it because you think it's a weakness." She stated, knowing that she was probably right about that.

"I could cut out your tongue without breaking a sweat." He threatened her, knowing that she was exactly right about that.

"Frieda." She said. "My name is Frieda." She held her hand out to him. "What's yours?" She asked him.

"Lucas." He shook her hand. "I would say it was nice to meet you, but I'm regretting walking up to you now." He said, trying to pull his hand away only to have her hold onto it, he would usually force his arm out of someone's grip, but he was sure he would pull her arm out of the socket, and he didn't want to deal with that, definitely the only reason he hadn't forcibly removed his arm from her grasp.

"Despite the way you said it, and went about doing it, that was really sweet what you did for that boy." She said getting closer to him.

"Tch, I didn't do it out of the kindness of my heart." He played it off. "It was someting he needed to hear, otherwise he'd spend the rest of his childhood being bullied."

Frieda smiled at him, it had been a long time since she had met a boy so sweet but yet so cold, in fact she wasn't even sure it was a good combination at all, but she couldn't explain it, it was like he interested her in some way.

"That's you being sweet." She said, eliciting an eye roll from him, but she leaned forward even more, they were both the same height at five foot five, so it was easy for her to plant a kiss on his cheek. "After all, it would be wrong for me not to reward my sweet boyfriend with a kiss." She teased him, leaning away from him.

"I am now very tempted to kill you and dispose of the body." He threatened her once again, but the red hue his cheeks had turned told her otherwise. "You don't seem very heavy so it would be fairly easy to carry your body to the nearest alley."

"Thanks for the compliment." She thanked him, taking his threat as a compliment on her body. "I hope we see each other again." She said as she walked away.

"I fucking hope not." He grumbled out. " _Do I_?" He thought to himself.

(842, 96th Cadet Corps Graduation)

"Do you have heart?!" The Instructor yelled out to the 116 graduating cadets of the 96th Cadet Corps.

"Sir!" They all responded, saluting him as they did so.

"From this moment onwards you have three options open to you! Choose wisely!" He yelled out. "The Garrison regiment, who's job is to reinforce all three walls! The Scouting Regiment, who ride out into Titan country in order to give humanity a stronghold in Titan territory! And the MP Regiment, maintaining law and order under orders from his Royal Majesty!"

"Those cadets eligible for the Military Police have already been named! The rest of you take a look! These are the top of your class!" He yelled, looking at the ten cadets who stood at the front of the others, with Lucas in first, Nanaba in seventh and Gelgar in ninth. "The rest of you have two other options, the Garrison and the Scouts. Usually the recruitment ceremony would be tomorrow, but due to unforseen circumstances, it will be held right now! First up is Commander Keith Shadis of the Scouting Regiment. Attention!"

"Good evening." He greeted them all. "My name os Keith Shadis as you probably already guessed, and I am the Commander of the Scouting Regiment, also knows as the Survey Corps, or simply the Scouts."

" _Fucking get on with it already Keith."_ Lucas pleaded in his head.

"Im not going to sugarcoat this, the Scouts are the smallest of the three Regiments and for good reason, we ride out into Titan territory to give humanity a foothold into lamd that was lost to them a ninety nine years ago. We currently have more horses than soldiers at the moment. But despite the circumstances, I believe that if any of you were to join the Scouts you would succeed given the right amount of training. Some of you will die in the process, that is a fact, but can we gain anything without sacrificing anything?" He asked the cadets. "The point is that any sacrifice made is never in vain, we always make progress, whether it is clearing a battalion route or killing Titans in the way, the Scouts have always made progress and we will continue to do so. The Scouts are the spearhead for humanity in their fight against the Titans. I believe in my abilities to lead us against this threat to out survival, but most importantly, I believe in the men and women who serve under my command, I believe in their ability to kill a Titan, and I believe we can win if we keep on fighting. That is all, anyone who wishes to join another Regiment may leave now." He finished off with.

By the end of the exodus, there were only seven people left there, Lucas, Gelgar, Nanaba and four other brave souls who decided to stay and give their lives for humanity.

"I see." Shadis spoke grimly. "I applaud your courage and bravery to join the Scouts. You all have my respect." He then slammed his fist onto his heart. "This is a formal salute Cadets! I welcome you to the Scouting Regiment! I expect you to all gove your heart and soul to the cause!"

" _I expected less people to be honest."_ Lucas thought as he looked over to the others still there with him. " _But then again, they're only looking out for themselves, can't fault someone for that."_

 ** _A/N-_ This is a story I have wanted to do for a while and I have the whole story basically planned out in my head somewhat. It will contain major spoilers for the manga a few chapters on and will heavily deviate from cannon material. But anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I hope I have No Regrets about the next chapter ;)**


	2. No Regrets

(844, Scout HQ)

" _I hate paperwork."_ Lucas thought to himself as he was going over the casualty report from the previous expedition. " _I swear Keith, Erwin and Flagon give me the paperwork they don't want to do. I would've never taken that promotion if I knew what this was going to be like. Youngest Corporal in the history of the Scouts they said, with your skill you'll be an asset for future expeditions they said."_ He mocked himself for falling for that. " _Fucking Erwin, shitty bastard, dropping all this paperwork on me, at least I don't have to write those letters to the dead soldiers families anymore."_

He was taken out of his thoughts as there was a knock on the door. "Name and reason?" He called out to them.

"Moblit Berner, Corporal. I have a message from Commander Shadis." He said from the other side of the wooden door.

"Enter." Lucas said, putting the papers dowm so he could properly face Moblit when he entered. "What is it?" He asked after he had entered.

"Commander Shadis has requested your presence in the meeting room Corporal Ackerman." Moblit said while saluting him.

"Don't be so stiff Berner. I don't give a shit if you salute me or not." He replied. "Wait, you're Hange's assistant arent you?" He asked.

"Yes Sir." He responded. "I am Hange's assistant." He told him. "Oh and before I forget, Hange wants you in the infirmary later tonight. She wants to run an experiment on your physical strength related to your muscle mass."

"No. She can kiss my ass if she thinks I'm going anywhere near her with a scalpel in her hands." He replied. "She once wanted me to break her arm just to see if I could, she's lucky Erwin stopped me or I might have."

"Actually, she got permission from Section Commander Erwin to run this experiment on you." Moblit told him. "So you don't have a choice when it comes down to it."

"Get out." Lucas growled out, not happy anymore.

"Have a good day Corporal." He said as he left the room, cringing as he heard something slam against the wall, a chair if he had to guess correctly.

"I don't even want to know." Nanaba said as she was also walking along the corridor at the same time as Moblit had left the Corporal's office.

"Was he always this prone to outbursts of anger?" Moblit asked. "I don't think it's normal for someone to get this angry all the time."

"After what happened in the forest he wasn't really angry that much, he was just sarcastic a lot and very blunt." She explained to Moblit. "But after he came back from our week off after the winter training exercise, he started becoming more and more agressive, I asked what was wrong and if anything happened but he just shrugged it off, like it didn't matter at all to him."

"Well I'm pretty sure he needs another chair after what we just heard in there." Moblit joked. "That's gotta be the fourth one this month, we might end up spending half the budget on the 23rd expedition on buying him new furniture for his office."

"At this rate probably." She laughed. "I think he's too hard on himself sometimes though. It doesn't help that he's constantly worrying about his family. Apparently his mom and sister are the last of the Orientals within the walls, supposedly theres a fortune to be made if they were sold on the black market in the Capital."

"So that's why he only has one set of clothes. Because he gives his salary to his family." Moblit summed up, he always found it strange how the Corporal only seemed to wear one shirt, and he had once seen him cleaning it at night while going to the bathroom.

"Come on. We should leave before he decides to break us instead." Nanaba urged. "And I'd shove you infront of me so I could try and reason with him."

Five minutes later Lucas had just entered the meeting room where Commander Shadis, Erwin, Mike, Flagon and a few others were all seated and waiting for him.

"So you've finally shown up." Flagon, one of the Section Commanders commented. "Surprised you showed up at all to be honest."

"Flagon. Now is not the time for this." Shadis interrupted him. "I called this meeting to inform you all that I will approve of Erwin's long range scouting formation for the upcoming expedtion. I feel that less casualties will be incurred as a result of us avoiding the Titans rather than engaging them head on. Any questions?"

"Is that it?" Lucas asked. "You called a meeting just to tell us that?" He asked, thinking that his time had been wasted.

"No, there's something I need to discuss with you, Erwin and Mike. The rest of you may leave now." Shadis responded, politely telling the other officers to leave the room.

Once they had all left Erwin produced a document from his jacket, laying it on the table for them all to see. "Furlan Church, Isabel Magnolia and Levi." He began. "These three thieves live in the Underground District, our informant has reported that they have possession of ODM gear and are quite proficient with it. I would like to recruit them to the Scouts."

"You're joking right?" Lucas was the first to speak up. "What makes you think any thief in the Underground would want to join the Scouts?"

"Well, it's either that or we hand them over to the Military Police." Erwin casually replied. "Seems like a logical choice to me."

"Tch, says the guy who stayed single just to join the Scouts." Lucas retorted back at him. "Any sane person would take prison over fighting Titan's any day."

"Are you saying that you don't have faith in Erwin's plan Corporal?" Shadis asked him with a glare which shut him up, since he had been in the Scouts he had learned that trusting in his fellow soldiers was the most important thing.

"As I was saying." Erwin continued on. "Once we have a location on them, we'll move in to detain them once the MP fall behind. Once we capture them I'm sure that I'll be able to convince them to join our ranks."

"Flagon won't be happy." Lucas stated. "He may be an ass, but he takes a lot of pride in being a Scout, he won't like that those three just walked in without any proper training."

"If Flagon has an issue with it he can take it up with me." Shadis spoke. "Lucas, you will go with Erwin and Mike to the Underground, you will be responsible for making sure they don't get away."

"I'm just one person." Lucas reminded him. "I can't be in two places at once."

"It'll be fine Commander Shadis." Erwin interjected. "The Corporal here can apprehend Miss Magnolia. Me and Mike will take Levi while the others capture Mr Church."

"Do you have to be so formal with them Erwin?" Lucas asked. "I'd recommend locking your door and window at night. Sounds like they might slit your throat while you sleep, if I don't get to you first." He growled out.

"Pardon the Corporal's behaviour Commander. I gave Hange permission to run more experiments in regards to his near supernatural strength." Erwin explained.

"I see." Shadis chuckled, before adopting a serious face. "Is that all gentlemen. I have a meeting with the others regarding the long range scouting formation."

"Actually Sir... I need another chair for my office." Lucas spoke up. "The one I was using wasn't sturdy enough."

"That's four this month." Shadis reminded him. "I'm well within my rights to dock your salary for-"

"No!" Lucas yelled out. "I mean no, It won't happen again Sir, just don't take it out of my salary." He pleaded.

"This is the last time, Corporal." He warned him. "Next time it will come out of your pay." He said as he exited the room.

"I'm starting to think that you shouldn't be allowed a chair in your office." Mike joked. "If you keep throwing them at the wall every time you get angry you'll have killed more chairs than Titans."

"I've killed more Titans than you Mike. I've been here for two years, what's your excuse?" Lucas mockingly asked him.

"Stop bickering you two." Erwin ordered.

"When do we leave?" Lucas asked Erwin.

"Now." He commanded, leaving the room with Mike and Lucas in tow, preparing to leave for the Capital where Erwin could enact his plan to have Nicholas Lofov thrown into jail.

(Underground District, Two days later)

"Where are they?" Lucas asked impatiently, they had been waiting for an hour now and he was getting bored beyond his wildest dreams, he was seriously beginning to believe that his mother trying to teach him to sew was more entertaining than this.

"Patience Lucas." Erwin told him. "We can't just expect them to come straight into the open. They've been doing this for years, they're the closest thing you'll get to professional thieves down here."

"Mike, please tell me you can smell them." He pleaded with the taller man, only to recieve a smirk from him, he could tell that Mike was enjoying this.

"I'd rather be sewing with my mother than be here right now." He complained to them both. "I'd much rather... no, in fact I'd rather be here than talk to her again."

"Her?" Mike smirked. "Who is she?" He asked. "Don't tell me you've got yourself a secret girlfriend and haven't told us about her." Mike feigned hurt by holding his hand over his heart.

"You're should count yourself lucky that I don't gut you like a fish Mike." He hissed at him. "I'd gladly show you my own technique for carving up Titans, it's obviously far superior to yours anyway."

"Not to overstep any boundaries Lucas, but are you gay?" Erwin asked. "I've seen plenty of females who outright admire you and I'm interested as to why you don't at least take up one of their offers."

"No I'm not gay Erwin." He hissed at him. "And I'm not going to sleep with some girl that just throws herself at me. As much as it may not seem like, I do have standards when it comes to women."

"Oh, really?" Erwin asked, genuinely curious now. "And that girl you mentioned earlier, the one that you don't want to talk to, what's your relationship with her?" He asked.

"Tch, you're not going to let this go are you?" He asked. "Fine, I met her at Trost two years ago, we talked for about twenty minutes and I insulted her many times, and she had the nerve to say she thought I was sweet. Can you believe that?"

"Are you serious?" Mike asked. "You met her two years ago and you still think about her. Must have really caught your eye, eh?" He nudged him with his elbow.

"She didn't catch my eye." He denied. "No one had ever said that to me, at least not after what happened in the forest, but she somehow saw who I was before it happened, and I-" He stopped himself once he saw Mike smirking at him and Erwin looking at him with curiosity.

"Fuck you two. I know what you just did, now I'm really considering breaking into your rooms and slitting your throat while you sleep." He growled out, annoyed that he had let himself show weakness once again.

"Having feelings isn't a weakness Lucas." Erwin told him. "Having feelings makes you human, it's about balancing those feelings that make you human and the job we do that sometimes requires us to throw away our humanity for the cause."

"Tch, I never asked for a speech about it Erwin. Just don't pry into my private life again." He warned them.

"Ah, looks like they're right on time." Erwin spoke as he gestured to a cart that had been knocked over by three people using ODM gear. "This is it gentlemen." He announced to the other Scouts with them. "Bring them back alive and unharmed, we need their skill for the upcoming expedition." He said as he lifted his hood over his head and activated his ODM gear, with the others following his example quickly after.

"They had us! It's those pests again!" One of the merchants cried out as someone ran away with some food that had fell out of a crate.

"There they are!" The other merchant yelled out, pointing towards where they were headed. "Someone call the Military Police!"

"Yahoo!" One of the thieves cried out, Isabel Magnolia from the description that Lucas was given by Erwin, he was to detain her.

"Levi, they're here!" Furlan called out. "The pursuers!" He clarified.

Levi looked back to see that three MP's were chasing them, and four others were behind them, all wearing cloaks with hoods covering their faces.

"Heh, the Military Police again?" Isabel asked. "Haven't learned their lesson have they?" She asked before facing the front. "Hey Levi-bro! What I said was a cool line right?"

"Are you an idiot?" He asked in response, getting her to pout at him.

Levi then swung upwards and spun around in the air, confusing the Military Police eho were following but the cloaked soldiers instead sped up, getting closer and closer to him. That was until he clicked the buttons of the gear and fired the hooks sideways into the walls of the buildings, causing three of the four soldiers to go flying passed him, but the fourth used the outstretched wire to leap into the air, effectively stopping himself from flying passed him as he seemed to hover in thevair above Levi as he quickly dodged a lunge at him and linked up with Furlan and Isabel again.

"Those movements... they're not Military Police." Furlan realised, knowing that they were far too good to be MP's.

"Yeah." Levi agreed with him. "No mistake. It's them." He revealed. "The wings of freedom crest... It's the Survey Corps!"

"Heh, as people who battle the Titans, they're as different as expected." Furlan said as he and Isabel looked back at them.

"You guys... you know right?" Levi asked them, knowing what they had to do.

"Of course." Isabel responded.

"It's the job right?" Furlan replied.

At the next street, Isabel shot off to the right while Furlan went left, with a Scout following each of them.

"Mike! After the girl!" Erwin ordered. "Lucas, you're with me, I underestimated his skill it seems." They both nodded with Mike taking Lucas' place in following Isabel while Lucas kept going straight with Erwin both following Levi.

" _Now let me see... how good the Survey Corps really is!"_ Levi thought to himself as he shot himself through the window of a building. Vaulting over a table and through a crack in the wall, coming out of a window at the other side of the building, only to see a Scout emerge from the alley and launch himself at him, forcing Levi to dodge.

As Levi tried to get away, he went under a structure, only to see the roof get torn apart from above with a soldier with black hair and eyes like his come down at him, with Levi sliding on his back and using his hands to propel him to his feet. He drew his knife and attacked the soldier with it, only to see his strike deflected downwards and recieve a kick to his midesction much to his shock.

He was about to charge until a blonde Scout came down from above, blocking his knife with his two blades and sliced at him, forcing Levi to dodge which allowed Erwin to rush him, grabbing thr hand with the knife in it and holding a blade to his neck.

"Stop it. Take a look around you." Erwin said as he felt Levi begin to struggle against him, when Levi looked over he saw that Isabel and Furlan were both handcuffed, with Isabel struggling in Mike's grip.

"Let me go... you bastard!" She yelled out as she continued to struggle against him. "Damn it all!"

"Levi!" Furlan called out, seeing the position his friend was in.

Levi then dropped his knife as he knew there was no escape from this and decided to give in to the Scouts.

"You're quick at reading the situation." Erwin observed as he let him go, with Lucas coming up from behind him as Levi glared at Erwin.

Once they were all in handcuffs and on their knees, Erwin began to ask them questions, much to Lucas' dismay, he wanted to get some sleep since he had been awake for the majority of the night before.

"I'll ask a few questions." Erwin announced, holding up the handle to one if the ODM gears that they had stolen. "Where did you get this?" He asked, referring to the gear, but didn't recieve an answer from any of them, they all stayed silent. "You guys are skilled with the ODM gear. Who taught you all that?" He asked, once again not recieving an answer.

Erwin then moved forward towards Levi, towering above him in his current state. "You're their leader right? Were you trained in the military?" He asked him, only recieving a glare from Levi in response.

Erwin then nodded to Lucas, who then placed his boot on Levi's back and forced him down, face first into a puddle of dirty water, adjusting his boot so it was on the side of his head. "He asked you a question midget." He hissed at him.

"You!" Isabel growled out at him while Mike stood back, looking on in amusement at the scene before him. Lucas wasn't even five foot seven and he was calling someone else a midget.

"I'll ask one more time." Erwin stated to Levi. "Where did you learn to use ODM gear?"

"Not from anyone!" Furlan cried out. "We learned it by ourselves."

"Self taught you say?" Erwin asked him. "I don't buy it."

"It's just so we're able to rise even a bit in this dirty garbage place!" Furlan yelled at him. "People who're used to sunlight like you guys wouldn't understand."

"That's enough. Let bro go!" Isabel demanded, which Lucas snorted at, she was in no position to make demands. "Don't be cocky just because you're soldiers!" She yelled at both Erwin and Lucas.

Erwin nodded to Lucas who took his boot off Levi's head and forced him onto his knees again, not being gentle about it at all.

Erwin then kneeled down infront of Levi who had his head held in place by Lucas who had a strong grip on his hair. "My name is Erwin Smith. And yours is?"

"Levi."

"Levi." Erwin repeated. "Why don't we make a deal?"

"A deal?" Levi asked in disbelief.

"I will let your crimes go unpunished." Erwin revealed to them. "In return, lend me your strength. Join the Survey Corps."

"And if I refuse?" Levi asked him in response, already knowing what his answer would be.

"The Military Police will have you. Considering all of your crimes, you and your friends, won't be treated very nicely." He said, getting up and turning his back on him.

"Choose whichever you prefer." Erwin said as he turned back to look at them, Levi in particular.

"Fine." Levi said, spitting on the dirty street. "I'll join the Survey Corps." He said, glaring up at Erwin, who had a rather creepy smile on his face.

"Tch, don't blame me if you leave your door unlocked at night and end up dead." Lucas deadpanned, getting a glare from all three handcuffed individuals.

(Scouts HQ)

"Quite frankly, this is humiliating." Flagon said as he slammed his fist on the table. "Are you honestly telling us, who have always held formality in high regard, to accept a bunch of criminals?" He asked Shadis. "Our soldiers morale will be tainted if we allow those Underground scum to join our ranks."

"I am in agreement with Flagon." The Scout next to him said. "And to suggest we take these criminals with us on the next expedition?"

"I fail to see the issue here." Lucas spoke up, he wasn't at the table, he was leaning on the wall behind Erwin. "Worst case scenario is they all get eaten out there, best case they keep killing Titans for us."

"I understand your concerns." Erwin spoke up before they could start arguing again. "But I can personally vouch for their ODM gear skills."

"The new formation that Erwin has been working on us quite groundbreaking." Shadis spoke up. "It emphasises importance not on how best to kill Titans, but how we should best avoid them. I believe our casulties will be greatly reduced."

"This formation is likely to be accepted as the norm for our forces." Erwin agreed with him.

"What those scum lack are discipline and manners." Shadis growled out.

Flagon gritted his teeth, glaring at Erwin as he did. "It should only require a short amount of time. They don't appear to be idiots. Right Erwin?"

"Correct." He answered, holding Flagon's stare.

"We'll end things here for today." Shadis spoke as he stood up, effectively ending the meeting.

Once the meeting had ended, Shadis had called all the present Scouts to the courtyard where he could introduce the three criminals as members of the Survey Corps. Shadis and the three were on a stage, where as every other Scout was stood at attention in different lines, with Lucas at the front of his line because of his rank as Corporal.

"From today, these three will be fighting alongside you all!" Shadis announced to them all, with Levi standing with his arms crossed, Isabel with her hand on her hip, and Furlan the only one that was standing at attention. "Introduce yourselves!" He commanded.

"The names Levi." Levi rudely stated, almost as if the idea of just being there disgusted him while the Scouts looked at him in shock, except a select few.

"Levi... the first thing you'll need is some god damn discipline!" Shadis said. "Next!"

"I'm Isabel Magnolia." Isabel stated as she stepped forward, pointing to herself. "Nice to meet ya!"

Furlan then put his fist over his heart in a casual salute as he spoke. "My name is Furlan Church."

"Flagon, these three will be in your squad." Shadis announced. "Look after them." He said, getting an amused snort from Lucas in response.

"My squad Sir?" Flagon asked, clearly not approving of the decision.

"Are you dissatisfied?" Shadis asked in return.

"N-No." His shoulders slumped as he looked over to Erwin. "But shouldn't Erwin-"

"Erwin is tasked with the soldiers formation." Shadis explained. "The new recruits are your responsibility. Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir, understood!" He responded, saluting rather unenthusiasticly, glaring up at Levi on the stage, who glared back at him.

"Corporal Ackerman." Shadis spoke up once he finished with Flagon. "Is there something that you find amusing about this situation?" Shadis asked him.

"No Sir." Lucas responded. "I just had something in my eye."

" _So... his name really is Ackerman."_ Levi thought. " _Shame we won't have the chance to talk after we're finished the job."_

Levi thought back to when they had met Lofov to take the job, and what exactly the job entailed.

" _There are two things I'll have you do_." Lofov's voice echoed in his mind. " _First you'll obtain a certain document which is in the possession of Erwin Smith_."

He remembered glaring up at him, thinking that it wouldn't be that easy.

" _And secondly to kill the Survey Corps' Section Commander Erwin Smith_." The words rang through his head. " _Oh, and a word of warning if you would indulge me. Be wary of his lapdog, Corporal Ackerman, they've taken to calling him humanities strongest soldier. He'll be by Erwin's side most of the time._ " He explained. " _Those are your jobs_."

Later that day, the soldiers were doing their regular training where as some of the officers had taken an interest in the training that the new recruits were going through, particulary Isabel and Levi, mainly because Isabel seemed a natural at riding a horse. Lucas was watching on as she rode around like she had been doing it her entire life.

"I'm surprised." A brown haired female Scoute in Flagon's squad stated. "Did someone teach you how to ride a horse?" She asked.

"Nah." Isabel smiled, petting the mane of her horse. "But I've always been fond of animals. This guy says he likes me too."

"No way!" The Scout said in amazement.

"She's not talking to the horse." Lucas scoffed as he offered up his opinion. "But riding a horse will be the least of your troubles when you come face to face with a Titan out there."

Isabel pouted at him. "What's that boy?" She asked the horse. "He says he doesn't like you." She said as she took off on the horse once again.

"Tch, I should have her cleaning the fucking toilets tonight for that comment." He growled out. "Do you know where the midget went?" He asked the female Scout.

"I think he went to the forest for ODM training Corporal." She replied. "But why call him a midget? He won't respect you if you insult him like that."

Lucas didn't reply, instead walkimg off towards the forest where said midget was about to do some ODM training.

Levi had just pulled out his sword as Lucas arrived and held it, facing behind him while the other was facing forward.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Flagon asked, crossing his arms as Hange and Moblit looked on in curiousity. "Those blades weren't designed to be held like that."

"Isn't that the way the Corporal uses his blades though." Moblit interupted.

"That's because Corporal Ackerman knows what he's doing and is ridiculously talented with the ODM gear." Flagon replied, now turning to face Levi again. "Do you want to die the moment you step outside the walls?"

"That might just happen to you." Levi said as he turned to face him.

"What did you say?" Flagon asked.

"All I have to do is slice the neck, right?" Levi asked. "I'll do it my way." He declared, engaging the ODM gear and launching himself into the forest.

"Was he given formal training?" Hange asked as she observed him.

"No, I don't believe so." Moblit answered her question.

"Good, very good." She stated, a creepy grin on her face now. "Everything from the way we search for Titans to the way we take them down is dependent upon individual methods." She squealed. "This is starting to get interesting."

"Wipe that creepy smile off your face before I staple your mouth shut." Lucas said as he smacked her on the back of the head. "He's wasting gas by doing all those flips, pulling off manoeuvres like that in Titan territory is a one way ticket down a Titan's throat."

"Corporal shorty!" Hange squealed in excitement as she wrapped an arm around his shoulder. "I wondered when you'd show up, we still have to run those experiments about your freaky strength." She told him.

"Get your hands off me before I rip them off." He threatened her.

"We should try that!" Hange exclaimed. "Not on me obviously." She giggled to herself. "I'll have a cadaver brought in to test that. I need to find Erwin!" She exclaimed, running off to find him.

"How the fuck do you deal with her?" Lucas asked Moblit. "Surely she must drive you crazy."

"There's a reason I drink the most alcohol in the Scouts Corporal." He reminded him. "The job is stressful to say the least, but I enjoy it nevertheless."

"Idiot." Lucas scoffed at Moblit. "If you need me I'll be in my office. I have more paperwork courtesy of eyebrows himself." He said. "Bastard." He whispered as he walked off.

Later at night, Furlan was looking around Erwin's office for the documents that Lofov wanted while Levi and Isabel stood watch outside the room.

" _Damnit, where is it?"_ He thought as he searched a drawer in the desk, still not finding it. " _I thought this would be easier considering how little equipment there is here."_ He thought as he went through the bookshelf. Then he heard a bird call and started to panic.

Erwin had just got out of the meeting about the formation for the upcoming expedition. He entered his office only to see that Lucas was leaning back in his chair with both his feet on the desk.

"Lucas." Erwin greeted. "Must you put your feet on the desk whenever you sit there?" He asked, this wasn't the first time it happened.

"I came by your office to deliver those documents you wanted." He responded. "Only to find that riff-raff Church had been in here. You can tell the fact those books on the shelf are slightly out of place, and I know how tidy you are."

"Really?" Erwin asked in amusement.

"No. I watched him leave the room." He deadpanned. "Speaking of which, why exactly was a former criminal snooping around your office?" He asked.

"I wondered when you'd figure it out." Erwin stated. He then pulled a scroll from his jacket pocket. "They're after this." He revealed. "These documents detail Nicholas Lofov's dealings with the Lang company." He explained.

"What? You blackmail him or something?" Lucas asked.

"I had to ensure that the expeditions would continue. Without us, humanity will never be able to live outside the walls again." Erwin explained.

"You're gonna turn him in anyway. Aren't you?" Lucas realised.

"That was the idea." Erwin responded. "Lofov hired those three to retrieve the documents regarding his crimes, and I suspect to kill me as well."

"You're insane." Lucas stated. "Risking your life for a piece of paper. No wonder you're almost in your thirties and still single."

"Oh, I didn't realise your relationship status has changed since we got back from the Underground." Erwin teased. "Speaking of which, Commander Shadis recieved a request from someone... rather interesting."

"It better not be a marriage proposal." Lucas said. "I'm not marrying someone I haven't met."

"It's just a meeting." Erwin reassured him. "Shadis recieved the request from Lord Reiss. He requests that you meet him at his estate after the upcoming expedition."

"What could that man want from me?" Lucas asked in disgust. "If he wants me to be his bodyguard he can think again. I'd rather endure one of Hange's experiments."

"I'm sure you would." Erwin chuckled. "But Shadis already said you have to go. Improving relations with the nobility is exactly what we need right now."

"Tch, fine." He agreed. "But I want to go home before I go to that cesspit of greed and corruption."

"I'm sure we can arrange that." Erwin agreed. "Will two days be enough?"

"A week or the deal's off." He demanded.

"I'm sure that would be acceptable, given that you actually go through with the meeting." Erwin agreed.

"Are we done here?" Lucas asked. "Because if we are, I need to hide from Hange now." He said, getting out of Erwin's chair and heading for the door.

"One more thing Corporal." Erwin called out as he reached the door. "I heard that Lord Reiss has a daughter about your age, play nice will you."

Lucas scowled at Erwin in response. "I'm going to shave your eyebrows off one day Erwin. Let's see how serious people take you then."

Erwin smiled to himself as Lucas left the room. It really was too easy to get him angry, hopefully after the meeting with Lord Reiss the Scouts could get some more backing from the nobility. Lord knows they needed it now more than ever, especially since they had almost lost their funding this time.

(23rd Exterior Scouting Mission)

"Open the gate!" Shadis yelled as the bells sounded around the town, giving the signal that the Scouts were beginning another mission. "Today, we take another step forward! Show me the fruits of your training!" He yelled as he looked back at them. "Show them the strength if humanity!"

The majority of soldiers responded with a war cry, raising their swords into the air as they did. Ready to give their all on this mission. Their lives if it came down to it.

"We will now begin the 23rd Expedition beyond the walls!" He announced. "Forward everyone!" He roared, galloping out if the gate first, closely followed by the other Scouts.

"Wow." Isabel gaped as she took in the outside world for the first time, her cheeks even turning pink at the sight.

"Yeah." Levi agreed, taking in the scenery for himself. "Not bad at all."

"What are you doing?" The female Scout that helped Isabel with her horse asked. "Don't lose focus. We're not out here to sightsee. There's no telling when we could run into a Titan."

"Hah." Isabel smirked. "If we do see one, we'll clean it up right away for you." She declared.

"Idiot!" She replied to which Isabel flinched at. "You wanna be the first one to die!"

"What's your problem." Isabel grumbled back at her.

"You're only able to talk like that because you've never seen a Titan before. You have no idea just how many good soldiers have been eaten..." She trailed off at the end.

"Titan sighted!" A scout called out, signalling to a fifteen metre in front of them. "Ahead and to our right! One fifteen metre class right ahead!"

"Thats... a Titan." Furlan observed nervously, seeing one was definitely different to talking about them.

"Two ten metre classes are heading towards us from behind!" Another Scout yelled out.

"They're too close for us to slip away. Prepare for combat!" Shadis ordered. "Equip your ODM gear!" He yelled, with three Scouts instantly leaving their horses and taking to the sky.

"Flagon, shoot your flare." Erwin said as he looked back to him.

"I know." He responded as he pulled out his flare gun and shot a red flare into the sky, alerting nearby Scouts to the Titan sighting.

"Commander, let's tighten our formation." Erwin suggested. "Looks like it's going to rain." He observed.

"Damnit!" Flagon said as he watched a Scout get bitten by a Titan. He then circled around to it's nape and cut it open, killing the Titan instantly.

"Incredible." Isabel commented as the Titan fell to the floor, slowly disintegrating away into steam.

"They're more impressive than the Military Police." Furlan agreed with her.

"They're here!" Isabel yelled as she heard the footsteps behind them.

"Two of them!" Furlan added in.

"You two, stay your course!" Flagon ordered as he returned to his horse, only to see that Levi was headed straight towards the Titans.

"Levi!" Furlan called out. "Let's do this Isabel!"

"Right!" She responded, preparing to engage the Titans with Levi and Furlan.

"Are they trying to get killed?" Flagon asked in frustration.

Levi then jumped off his horse, shooting his hook between the Titans into a tree, using his momentum to propel himself upward, he sliced open the nape cleanly. He saw the Titan go down, along with the other Titan grabbing Isabel on her leg, she cut herself free which allowed Furlan to cut the nape and kill the Titan.

"All the Titan's have been wiped out!" A scout called out.

"Everyone regroup!" Another ordered.

"How's that Levi?" Furlan asked, proud that he had managed to kill a Titan. "We took down a Titan all by ourselves."

"We did it bro! We did it!" Isabel chanted, obviously proud as well.

"Yeah... you guys did well." Levi praised them.

"Section Commander, those three..." The brown haired Scout started, only to have Flagon interupt her.

"Yeah." Flagon agreed. "I'm beginning to see why Erwin was so insistent on having them join."

"Indeed." Erwin said as he and Lucas joined the trio. "That was impressive, considering it was your first time. But you used too much gas. You need to be especially conservative out here."

"You're expecting me to take priority of my equipment over the lives of my friends?" Levi asked him.

Erwin was about to speak, but Lucas spoke up before he could. "If you run out of gas out here you're dead. Simple as that." He told them. "And unless you have developed a way of killing Titans by glaring at them, I suggest that you conserve your gas."

"What Corporal Ackerman said is true." Erwin agreed with him. "You're performing a lot of unnecessary movements." Erwin then narrowed his eyes at them. "Are you beginning to have doubts?"

Levi's eyes widened at that statement.

"If you are, that'll be the death of you very soon." Erwin warned them.

"Damn him!" Isabel yelled as she glared at the retreating forms of Lucas and Erwin. "He better watch his back when he's alone!"

"Shh!" Furlan hissed. "He'll hear you." He warned her.

It then began to rain, starting off slow and then the grey clouds covered the sky, the rain lashing down onto the ground below, reducing visibility to only a few feet in all directions.

" _It's difficult to see."_ Erwin thought. " _If the storm gets any worse, the flares won't be if much use."_

"We should reduce our speed Erwin." Lucas commented. "I don't want to ride straight into a Titan's mouth out here."

"Yes." He agreed with him. "Although I'd like to get away from this open area as soon as possible." Erwin said as he shot a green flare into the sky.

"You realise they'll use the rain to come for you right?" Lucas asked him.

"I know." Erwin responded. "I'm counting on it."

"Tch, I swear if I die fighting them instead of a Titan I'm going to come back and strangle you." Lucas commented, but followed Erwin anyway.

Elsewhere, Levi, Furlan and Isabel were all close together, discussing what they would do while the rain was still pouring down.

"I didn't know rain could be this heavy." Isabel commented, watching it bounce iff her cloak and onto the ground below.

"Yeah!" Furlan agreed. "We won't see any Titan's before it's too late!"

"This is our chance." Levi stated, using the rain as a cover would be perfect. "We'll use this rain as cover and get close to Erwin."

"Levi!" Furlan and Isabel gasped.

"Are we gonna go for it bro?" Isabel asked him.

"Yeah, but it'd be suspicious if all three of us were to break away at once." Levi responded. "I'll go alone."

"True, it's probably not best to carelessly move around." Furlan agreed with him.

"Alright, fine." Isabel conceded. "We're counting on you bro! Go and secure our surface citizenship!"

"If anyone asks, tell them I went to survey the terrain." Levi told them.

"Got it." Furlan nodded as Levi changed direction and sped ahead, moving through the rain to where Erwin would be. He was going to kill him, and humanities strongest if he got in the way too.

Levi then yanked the reigns of his horse, pulling it to a stop as he came across a massacre of soldiers. "What the hell... happened here?" He asked in shock.

He saw a black flare being fired behind him, he turned to see a mortally wounded soldier crawling around. "The Titan..." Was all he managed before he went still.

"No way!" Levi spoke as he looked to the ground, seeing the footprints heading in the opposite direction. "Did we pass each other?"

Gritting his teeth, he raced back, through the pouring rain as it pounded against him until his horse hit something, sending him flying to the ground. When he looked up he saw Isabel's head lying on the floor, specked in blood and dirt from the grassy field.

He then noticed the Titan as it growled at him, biting down on what it was chewing and spat it out, revealing the upper half of Furlan.

A gust of wind blew across the Titan, allowing Levi to slip out of it's sight, coming in from above to slash at the Titan. It tried to swat him but he was too fast, continuing his assault, screaming the whole time, he ripped the Titan apart, he eventually went up it's arm and cut the nape. With him covered in blood and crying with his head down.

Once the Titan had skeletonised, Erwin, Mike and Lucas were all standing there, with Levi still on his knees with Isabel's head next to him.

"So you're the only survivor." Erwin stated. "How pathetic." He commented.

Levi's head snapped towards Erwin as he charged towards him, using his blade to slice at him which Erwin caught, the blunt blade easily being held at bay.

Erwin heard another sword being drawn to his left, but before Lucas coukd do anything Erwin spoke up. "Stop!" He held his hand out to Lucas, who eventually relented afrer a second.

"I'm going to..." Levi breathed deeply then. "Kill you!" He roared. "That's why I'm here!" He screamed.

Using his free hand, Erwin reached into his jacket and produced a scroll if paper and threw it to the ground. "These documents revealing Lofov's crimes... are a fake." Erwin revealed. "The real ones have likely reached Darius Zackly by now. Lofov is finished."

"You knew everything right from the start!" Levi accused him. "You knew we were after you right from the start, and yet you-" He struggled more but Mike was able to pull him back as Levi slumped to his knees, dejected and depressed beyond belief now.

"Don't." Erwin warned him, seeing the look of regret on his face. "You'll regret it." He stated. "If you begin to regret, you'll dull your future decisions and let others make your choices for you. All that's left for you then is to die."

Lucas looked with his blank facade on, sure he didn't particularly like Levi, but nobody deserved this to happen to them. It was quite sad to be honest.

"Nobody can foretell the outcome. Each decision you make holds meaning only by affecting your next decision. We're going to continue the expeditions." Erwin turned and began walking away. "I expect you to come with me."

Levi looked stunned as he watched Erwin walk away, bodies and weapons scattered everywhere.

"If you're going to just mope here the least you could do is hand back your gear." Lucas said as he walked up to him, holding out his hand. "They're rather expensive to manufacture and the Corps operating budget is already at an all time low. We can't leave a perfectly good weapon out here. Can we?"

Levi looked up at him, realising what he meant he grabbed his hand and pulled himself up.

"Welcome to the Survey Corps Levi." He said as he walked off towards the direction that Erwin had went in.

The day after they had returned from the expedition, Lucas was given the week off as promised and was now outside the house that he spent the first twelve years of his life in. He knocked on the door and waited for it to open. It was his mother who opened the door, who gasped at the sight of her son before her.

"Hey mom." He greeted. "I'm ba- woah!" He said as she latched herself to him relieved that he was okay and had returned.

"You're back." She said. "My beautiful baby boy is back." She said once more, almost in tears at this point.

"Tch, If you're gonna be like that then I'm not going to let you hug me anymore." He deadpanned. Gently putting his arms around her, still not the most comfortable when it came to affection.

"Mom, what's happening." Mikasa asked her mother, before seing who was at the door, her eyes light up in delight. "Big bro! You're back!"

 **A/N- This was a fun chapter to write, there he is already at the rank of Corporal. He seems to put a lot of trust in Erwin, but still insults him and most of the others, but Shadis isn't having that. But I wonder what causes the anger issues? But now he's home for a week, I wonder what will happen while he's home? And right before he has to meet with scumbag Rod too. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	3. Tragedy and a Strange Outing

"Big bro! You're back!" Mikasa exclaimed as she excitedly ran up to him, hugging him as her mother stepped away to allow her to do so.

"That can't be right." Lucas said as he rubbed her hair affectionately. "Have you gotten shorter since the last time I saw you?" He asked her.

"I have not!" She pouted at him. "Mommy says I'm going to be taller than you when I'm older." She responded confidently.

"Is that so?" He asked, looking at his mother who was smiling at the interaction between the two siblings. "You might end up taller than me, but you can't fly, can you?"

"Mommy says that it's dangerous to fly like you do." Mikasa said, worry etched across her face. "I don't want you to get hurt big bro. I want you to be safe, and to come home more often." She tightened her hug on him as she spoke.

"That's why I trained Mikasa." He said. "I've been told many times that it's completely safe for me to fly." He told her. "So you don't have to worry about me not coming home, I'll always stay safe."

"Mikasa, as much as your brother seems to enjoy your company. I'm not sure he would appreciate being glomped by you every time he comes home." His mother scolded her. "He might be strong, but he's not unbreakable."

"I don't want to let go!" She announced. "I won't get any more hugs from him if I do." She said. "And I like hugging big bro!"

"If you let go now, I promise to give you more hugs later. I have a week off to visit." He told her.

"Pinky promise?" She asked, holding out her pinky finger for him.

"Pinky promise." He said, shaking her pinky with his.

She giggled as she ran off to do something else in the house.

"Where's dad?" He asked his mother as he sat down at the table, stretching his legs as he did.

"He went out hunting this morning." She replied. "It'll be a nice surprise for when he gets home." She commented.

"Did you give it to her?" He asked. "The tattoo I mean." He clarified for her.

"I did." She responded. "I know you were against giving it to her, but its the only link we have to our ancestors that lived outside the walls." She reminded him. "I know you don't look like an Oriental since you got your looks from your father, but I really appreciate you getting the tattoo before you left for the Cadets."

"I know. You told me that before." He reminded her. "What about the sewing? Have you taught her that yet?"

"Yes I have. I was going to help her with it later this week." She replied. "I thought she would take to the sewing more than you did, considering your habits as a child."

"Tch, I'm not the same naive brat I was back then." He responded, his bluntness coming back a bit. "Constantly being in danger taught me that I can't be naive anymore."

"Enough about that." His mother changed the topic. "How have you been lately. I heard you recently got a promotion to Corporal." She revealed. "How is humanities strongest soldier handling his newfound responsibilities?" She teased.

"Tch, Erwin keeps having me do experiments with that crazy, Titan obsessed idiot I told you about." He told her. "Something about using my strength to our advantage. He's lucky I don't shave those massive eyebrows off his face. Then we'll see how much people laugh at him."

"Maybe if you didn't insult your superiors every chance you get he wouldn't have you do things you don't like." She lightly scolded him.

"It's not my fault he has abnormally large eyebrows." He protested. "Oh, and he's making me meet one of the nobles next week. Something about improving relations with the Scouts and the nobility."

"You don't sound too pleased about that." She observed. "Surely it would be a good thing to improve relations between them. Maybe the Scouts could get more funding for their future expeditions."

"It's not that. The guy has a kid my age apparently." He replied. "I think this meeting is just a farce to get me to meet with her. He's an idiot if he thinks I'll have anything to do with her."

"What would be so bad about that?" She asked. "This attitude is exactly why you're still single. I don't want to have to wait until Mikasa is older until I have grandchildren." She teased him. "Even then I'm sure you would chase away every boy that came within a fifty foot radius of her."

"I'm not going to marry some stuck up brat who thinks she'll have everything handed to her." He growled out. "She has another thing coming if she thinks she can sway me with wealth and power."

"Who knows? Maybe you'll run into that girl Frieda you constantly talk about when you come home." She teased.

"Tch, I don't constantly talk about her." He denied. "What are you even talking about?" He asked.

"Every time you come home you talk about her." His mother deadpanned. "I always ask if you have a girlfriend then you proceed to insult every woman you know and why you won't date them. But you seem to have plenty to say about her as a matter of fact."

"I'm going to stop coming home if you bring her up one more time." He glared at her. "It's not my fault she's too stupid and naive for her own good. Wouldn't surprise me if she got stabbed while giving an apple to some old man who pretended to be homeless."

"You're doing it again." She sang out.

"I hate you."

"I love you too Lucas." She replied to him. "Oh, maybe you should ask Doctor Yeager to take a look at your scar when he comes by a few days from now. You wouldn't want it to get infected would you?"

"Whats wrong?!" He demanded. "Why is Doctor Yeager coming here? Is it Mikasa?"

"Nothing's wrong sweetie." She responded. "Just a routine checkup, that's all."

"But you look fine." He observed. "What's the checkup for... don't tell me. Another one?" He asked.

"Yes, me and your father think that I'm pregnant." She confirmed. "We haven't told Mikasa though, we wanted to surprise you both, but you seem to have figured it out."

"Tch, how do you expect me to do my job if I'm constantly having to fend off any leacherous boys from my little sisters." He scoffed. "I can't be in two places at once."

"I need grandchildren eventually Lucas. I've already told your father to not scare away any boys that interest Mikasa. I'll tell you the same."

"Tch, that's because you have dad wrapped around your fucking finger." He reminded her. "You won't be able to influence me in any way, shape or form."

"Really?" She asked. "We'll just have to see about that." She said, before smacking him on the head. "And watch your language, I will not have Mikasa cursing like you do because you can't filter what comes out of your mouth."

(Three days later)

A few days later Mikasa was practicing her sewing with her mother. Lucas was reading a book at the end of the table next to Milasa while his father was peeling potatoes at the table.

"I'm finished momma." Mikasa announced as she handed her work over to her mother for inspection. "What do you think? Did I do good?" She asked.

"Oh darling. It's absolutely fantastic." She replied to Mikasa. "Excellent work." She praised.

"Aww, thank you." Mikasa thanked her mother, happy that she was able to please her.

"We've kept this style of embroidery a special family secret for heaven knows how many generations." She told Mikasa. "One day, when you have children if your own, you'll be able to pass this secret onto them."

"Huh?" Mikasa seemed confused now. "I don't understand, how can I have children?" She innocently asked.

"Uh... honey, why don't you explain?" She passed the responsibility onto her husband so she didn't have to tell Mikasa while Lucas snorted in amusement.

"Yeah, please daddy?" Mikasa asked him.

"I think I'd like to know as well." Lucas said. "Mom keeps pestering me about grandchildren but I don't know how to make a child either." He said, feigning his innocence.

"Well I'm not sure I'm really an expert on tje subject." He replied while Mikasa looked on in wonder and his wife was giggling to herself. "But you know what? That nice Doctor Yeager is scheduled to pay us a visit today. Maybe you could talk to him." He suggested nervously.

"Real smooth dad." Lucas said to him as there was a knock at the door.

"Speak of the devil." He laughed out. "Just a moment!" He called out as there was another knock at the door. Walking over he opened it as he spoke. "We were just talking about you Doctor-" He was cut off as a knife was plunged into his abdomen, hitting his organs as he collapsed onto the floor.

The three other Ackerman's looked over at the sound of him hitting the floor, only to see that it wasn't Doctor Yeager at the door, instead it was a rather thuggish looking man.

"Sorry, hope we're not interupting." He apologised rather poorly.

"Let's take this easy." Another thug said. "I don't imagine- Fuck!" He yelled as a chair flew across the room, hitting the hand that was carrying the axe, sending him careening into the third thug that was with them.

"Get out now!" Lucas yelled to Mikasa and his mother as he lunged at the three attackers. "I'll hold them off! You need to leave!"

"Come on Mikasa!" Her mother urged as she stood up and grabbed her hand roughly. "Listen to your brother. We need to go!"

"What about dad?" Mikasa asked, not understanding the situation. "We can't leave him."

Lucas on the other hand had broken the nose of the one that had stabbed his father as he puched the one with the axe in the ribs, hearing multiple cracks upon the impact and threw him out the door. The third one rushed him, sending a lazy right hook at him which Lucas easily went under and hit him with an uppercut, sending him flying back and unconscious.

"I'm so glad we paid for this now." The first thug said as he pointed a gun at Lucas, pulling the trigger. He raised his hand as a futile attempt to block only to see a dart enter the palm of his hand.

"I'm going to enjoy breaking your spine and ripping it out!" Lucas spat out as he removed the dart from his hand. "Just you wait until I..." He stumbled backwards into the house and fell into unconsciousness, the fast acting sedative quickly sending him to sleep.

"Mikasa stay behind me!" Her mother ordered after seeing Lucas fall unconscious infront of them.

"What happened to big bro mommy?" She asked. "Why is he sleeping?"

The thug had already reloaded the dart weapon and shot it at Lucas' mother, hitting her shoulder and knocking her out. And swiftly did the same to Mikasa.

"God damn he hits hard!" The second thug exclaimed. "Who was he anyway? He wasn't supposed to be here."

"That was humanities strongest soldier you idiot!" The first thug yelled. "That's why we bought the dart gun from the MP's. In case he was here." He reminded him.

"Good thing we did too." He replied to him. "We bagged ourselves a pureblood Oriental." He commented, proud of his work.

"Yeah, but now we'll have to kill him." He gestured to Lucas. "But with that strength, maybe we could make a pretty penny on the Underground market for him as well. At least we'll get our money for the pureblood and the halfbreed. Now hurry up and get them moved, we can't stay here for long, sounded like they were expecting someone else."

It was still raining when Doctor Grisha Yeager and his son Eren arrived at the Ackerman household, both of them wearing cloaks to protect them from the rain.

"Her name's Mikasa?" Eren asked as his father knocked on the door.

"Yes, and she's just about your age so try to get along, okay?" He tried to encourage Eren, there was a reason he only had one friend. "There aren't many children around here and I'd rather you not grow up to be an outcast."

"If she's nice to me then we won't have a problem." Eren responded.

"Eren." His father sighed. "Look for the bad in people expecting to find it and you will. Besides, her older brother is a Corporal in the Survey Corps. If you be nice he might tell you about the world outside the walls."

"Really?" Eren asked, his eyes lighting up at the prospect of learning about what's outside Wall Maria.

"Yes. I belive he's been given the title of humanities strongest soldier." Grisha smirked at Eren's reaction. "That's odd." He mused as he knocked on the door again. "Are they home?"

"Mr Ackerman!" He called out, knocking louder this time. "It's Doctor Yeager!" He then tried the door to see that it was unlocked. "Is anyone there?" He asked but the gasped as he saw the blood on the floor, with the body of Mr Ackerman slumped against the wall.

"Well are they or aren't they?" Eren asked, not understanding his father's reaction to the scene that he saw. "Dad? What's wrong?" He asked.

He then checked the pulse on Mr Ackerman's body only to find none. "Damnit. Look around." He told Eren. "Can you see any of the other three? Perhaps they're outside." He suggested.

"I don't think so." Eren replied, still standing out in the rain.

"This is bad." Grisha stated, having not noticed the lone silver dart that was lying on the ground outside covered in mud. "I need to alert the Military Police of this while the trail's warm. If Lucas is with them the should stand a chance." He then faced Eren. "Wait for me at the foot of the mountain." He ordered him. "Understood? Say that back to me. Word for word! Eren!"

Further into the woods, there was a cabin that the human traffickers had taken Lucas, Mikasa and their mother.

"All I'm saying is that they better go for a decent price." One commented to the other. "I didn't get my ribs broken for nothing."

"Look at her face." The other gestured to Mikasa. "And tell me what she's worth."

The other man then rolled Mikasa over with hif foot, turning her onto her back. "Sure she's cute and all, just young." He observed. "Wouldn't go for her myself." He commented.

"Then I guess were lucky you're not the one we're sellin' to." The other replied. "Plenty of folks would pay a premium. She's exotic, what people used to call an Oriental." He explained. "You know about all that right? Back when there used to be different breeds of people. A bunch of them from the far east came scrambling here for safety." He explained further. "The old perverts in the Capital really go for that sort of thing. This little beauty's gonna fetch a mint at auction, and that's not even mentioning the mother, pureblood she is. Last of their kind, all the others died out."

"What about him?" The other one gestured to Lucas who was tied up with rope just to be safe. "He doesn't look like an Oriental, neither did the dad, so the girl's not pure."

"Good point there!" He slammed his foot on the floor. "We wouldn't have these injuries if you had done your job and scouted out the place properly!"

" _So cold."_ Mikasa thought as the two continued to argue with each other.

The two kidnappers were both startled when the door to the closet suddenly opened and revealed a nine year old boy wearing a red scarf.

"Oh, I'm sorry." The boy apologised.

"Don't move from that spot you little vermin!" The man commanded as he stormed across the room and flung the door open. "How did you even find this place?" He angrily asked the boy.

"Uh, well... I was... the woods... got lost." The boy said, tears forming in his eyes. "I saw your cabin and..."

The man looked back only to get a signal from his partner telling him to get rid of the boy. "Lost in the woods huh?" He asked, bending down to ruffle his hair. "Kid you're age shouldn't be out here to begin with." He stated. "Big bad wolves are liable to pounce on you from outta nowhere." He warned. "It's alright now though, you'll be safe here, my buddy and I will be happy to take care-"

He was cut off as the boy produced a knife from behind him and cut into his throat. "I appreciate that Sir." He said, removing the hand from his head. "But I'm not stupid, and I'm the last thing you'll ever see." He said, fully slitting his throat now as he backed up into the closet and closed the door.

"What the hell do you think you're doing!" The other man cried out. "Hey you little bastard! Get back here!" He yelled, storming over to the door and opening it.

The boy then rushed him with a knife taped to a broom and stabbed him, knocking him over as he proceeded to stab the man repeatedly, over and over again. "You're an animal you hear me! No! You're a disease! This is what you get you son of a bitch! This is what you get for being what you are! Die! DIE!" He roared as he continued to stab him.

"Hey you." Lucas groaned out as he regained consciousness while the kidnapper was being stabbed. "If you're done with your rant, mind cutting us free?" He asked, gesturing to Mikasa and his mother who was just coming to as well.

"Right, sorry." He breathed out, moving to Mikasa first. "The hard parts over, you're safe now." He told her as he started cutting her free. "I'm Eren."

"Not her you fucking idiot, untie me first!" Lucas shouted at him. "There's a third one. I'm a trained soldier, I can deal-"

He was cut off as the third man entered the room and kicked Eren across the room, forcing him to drop the knife as Lucas began struggling against the ropes that had him tied up.

"This is all your doing, isn't it?" The man asked as he casually walked over to Eren and lifted him off the floor by the throat. "Answer me you little bastard! You did this!" He roared. "I'm gonna kill you! You're gonna die!"

"Mikasa, the knife." Lucas quickly spoke. "Cut me free and you'll be fine. I promise. Hurry!" He emphasised his urgency.

"No." Eren gargled out. "Take him out." He tried to order her but Lucas wasn't having any of it.

"Don't listen to him Mikasa. Big bro will keep you safe. All you have to do is cut these ropes." He said as he struggled against them even more now, causing a slight tear in them.

"Fight." Eren managed to get out. "Kill or be killed. Fight for your life!" He got out while being strangled. "Its- it's the only way."

"Mikasa, listen to your brother." Her mother said to her. "He'll always keep you safe, no matter what."

"Who the hell do you think you are you little brat?!" The man asked Eren as he continued to strangle him.

"The only way to live... its to fight!" Eren somehow got out as Mikasa shakily picked up the bloody knife in response.

"That's good Mikasa." Her mother encouraged her. "Now untie your brother and we'll all be fine. Understand?" She asked her, but Mikasa didn't seem to notice her as she continued to look at the man choking Eren as his arms fell limp at his side.

"Don't move Mikasa. I'm almost free." Lucas told her as he continued to resist against the bindings, his supernatural strength stretching the rope apart as it struggled to contain him. "You'll be fine. As long as you stay right there. Big bro will save you. You just have to trust me."

He then noticed that Mikasa had stopped shaking altogether, knowing what that meant he continued to struggle even more agaibst the rope. "Mikasa stop right there!" He commanded. "Don't you dare move!"

" _Fight."_ She thought as Lucas broke the rope on his hands, and quickly began to rip off the rope on his feet. " _Fight."_ She thought as she felt the power surge through her muscles, the wooden handle of the knife being crushed in her grip.

"Fight!" She yelled, the floor boards breaking as she moved forward with Lucas lunging at her to stop her from killing another person but she just managed to avoid his grasp as she flew forward and stabbed the man in the back and through the heart, killing him instantly.

Later that night the MP's had arrived after being brought by Grisha Yeager, Mikasa was currently being glomped by her mother who was just glad that her children were still alive. Lucas was talking to the MP's at the moment about what happened, he tried to take the blame for killing the three kidnappers to protect Mikasa but Eren stepped in and told them the truth.

Eren was currently being scolded by Grisha after what he had just done. "Damnit son, I told you to wait at the foot of the mountain. Do you even understand the magnitude of what you've done here today!" He was getting angrier as he went on.

"Sorry dad, but I'm not gonna feel bad for what happened." He told his father. "They were animals disguised as humans who needed to be put down!"

"Listen to yourself!" Grisha yelled at him.

"By the time the Military Police got here, they'd have been long gone, and you know it!" Eren yelled back at his father. "We couldn't afford to wait!"

"There was a trained soldier with them!" He reminded his son. "He isn't called humanities strongest to make him feel good about himself! He's the best within the walls, he would've been fine without you risking your life!" He yelled at him. "You threw caution to the wind and survived by pure luck. You're strong, yes." He conceded. "But you're too damn young to be casually gambling with your life."

"But I- I didn't know how else I was supposed to save her." Eren was breaking down now.

Grisha was about to reply but Lucas beat him to it. "You acted on your emotions Eren." He told him. "Having your choices influenced by your emotions are what seperates a leader from a sheep that follows. You didn't just gamble your own life but mine, Mikasa's and my mothers by untying Mikasa first instead of me when I told you to."

"I just... I just wanted to help." Eren let out, quite pathetically in Lucas' opinion.

"I can see that. But it doesn't matter now, you can't change what happened, but you can change how you act in future situations like that. Whether you act like a leader, or whether you become a sheep, like most people within these walls." He said to Eren, who's mood brightened up considerably after hearing some encouraging words from a Scout. "Doctor Yeager, a word." He gestured to the side.

"Of course. Eren, why don't you talk with Mikasa for a bit." He said to Eren as he turned to walk over to Lucas. "What is it you needed?"

"I want to ask something of you Doctor Yeager. I can't leave them alone again, but I can't quit my job either. What I'm asking is, will you take them in to your home?" He asked him, shocking Grisha a bit. "My mom is pregnant, and you're a doctor. I'll pay you, anything you want and it's yours."

Grisha then held his hand up as he began to think for a moment. "Alright." He agreed. "I'll agree to take them in, but in return, I need a favour in the future. I'm currently working on a... project right now, and I'll need your help to finish it off. I'll explain what it is in due time. It should be finished by next year, so that's when I'll need you."

"You make it sound really fucking shady." Lucas deadpanned. "As long as it doesn't endanger either of them. I'll do it." He agreed.

"Excellent." Grisha said as he went to explain the situation to them all, while Lucas thought about his upcoming meeting with Lord Reiss. He was fucking furious about what happened, but he couldn't let his emotions dictate his actions, no. He was about to meet with Lord Reiss next week after he got himself accomodated with the Yeagers to see if they were trustworthy enough to take care of Mikasa and his pregnant mother while he was away, and he'd rip apart anyone who dared come after them again. As he walked over to where they were all gathered, he noticed that the scarf Eren was wearing was now wrapped around Mikasa.

" _Look's like the first leacherous boy has arrived."_ He thought. " _Might have to crack a couple of bones when we get to Shiganshina."_

(Wall Sina, Reiss Family Estate)

Lucas had spent the past week at the Yeager household in Shiganshina, which was the most dangerous place to live since the Titans seemed to congregate in the south. But he couldn't complain given the hospitality they were shown by Grisha, his wife Carla and Eren, who Mikasa seemed a bit attached too, he would have to break a couple bones when he got older, his father was a doctor, so he would heal eventually.

His mother was coping somewhat with the death of his father, he usually wasn't that big on things like affection, hugs especially, but he made an exception this past week for her and Mikasa, he would never tell them but it helped him as well, being there with them still alive was enough to keep him going for the moment, at least until the Survey Corps' funding was cut because he couldn't keep his mouth shut when it really mattered.

The carriage had stopped outside what looked like a very expensive estate, perfect for a stuck up family to live in. "Greedy bastards." He whispered to himself. "Living in luxury while thousands live in poverty all over the walls."

"We have arrived, Sir." The driver bowed his head to him as he opened the door for him while Lucas was stuck in his own thoughts.

"Tch, don't bow to me like I'm some sort of god." He scoffed. "What makes you think I'm any better than you, I was born in Wall Maria."

"Well... you are humanities strongest soldier Sir." The driver responded. "Not many people can come close to your Titan killing record."

"Seriously? People in Sina use that moniker?" He asked him. "I assumed they would all think I'm a waste of tax money. That's what we usually get when we return from the expeditions. But then again, they wouldn't be saying that if he walls were breached and we were the last line of defence between them and the jaws of a Titan."

"A loaded question if I may, do you think that the walls will hold out forever? Or do you think the Titans will break through?" He asked.

"Honestly. It wouldn't surprise me if there was a Titan out there with enough power to break the gate of one of the outer Districts. But even then, a Titan that large couldn't get into the District to destroy the Inner gate." He told him truthfully. "But then again, we know fuck all about the Titans, the only thing I concern myself with is how to kill one. Makes it easier to focus rather than focusing on their origins."

"I see..." The driver replied, pondering something for a moment. "How many Titan's have you killed?" He asked. "Surely it must be a great number to be the strongest soldier in existence."

"It's not as much as you might think." He responded after a moment of thinking. "I've only been a Scout for two years, that's nowhere near some of the others that I work with. I just happened to be talented. That's all there is to it."

"Thank you for answering the questions Sir." The driver said. "Lord Reiss is waiting for you inside. One of the servants will escort you inside."

Waiting at the door was a maid wearing a black dress with a white apron and white cap. Her blonde hair was tied back as to not get in the way of her eyesight.

"Good afternoon Corporal Ackerman." She greeted, bowing her head slightly much to his annoyance. "Lord Reiss will see you now, follow me if you will." She said, spinning around and leading him to what looked like a dining room given the massive table in the centre.

"Corporal Ackerman has arrived Lord Reiss." She said, bowing her head fully to him as she waited to be dismissed.

"Thank you Alma, you may leave now." He dismissed her, but Lucas noticed Rod's wandering eye. " _Fucking animal. Can't keep it in his pants can he? Wouldn't be surprised if he and half the nobles in the Capital had illegitimate children."_ He thought, but still maintained his blank expression.

"Tea Corporal?" He asked, gesturing to the teapot next to him on the table. "Or not." He said quietly after Lucas didn't answer him.

"My apologies Lord Reiss." He apologised. "I didn't realise that pigs could talk, let alone drink tea."

"She said that you would most likely insult me." Rod laughed it off. "But your choice of insults are quite amusing if I must say so myself." He joked. "Although I must admit, I'm having a hard time seeing what she seems to see in you."

"Who is she?" Lucas asked, annoyed that Rod didn't seem offended at all by the insult.

"My daughter." He clarified. "She claims you met her before, wouldn't shut up about that sweet boy from Trost for a week after she returned home."

"I've never met a Reiss in my life." Lucas was confused now. "I don't recall meeting anyone in Trost..." He trailed off at the end.

"Have you finally realised?" Rod asked him, taking a sip from his own cup of tea.

"For fucks sake." He cursed. "I hoped I wouldn't have to see her again." He admitted. "That girl is far too naive for her own good, she got scammed by a little kid just so he could bully another kid with the food."

"I believe she mentioned something like that." He replied. "Why don't you take a seat Corporal." He gestured to the many empty chairs in the room. "I'm sure someone like you would know how long it takes for a woman to get ready."

"Did you just call me a man whore?" He asked, glaring daggers at Rod, who flinched a bit at the stare.

"I'm sorry if I caused any offence with that comment." He apologised, to which Lucas scoffed at. "But I must warn you, Frieda has changed a lot since you met her in Trost. This is her way of testing you, to see if you are compatible with her."

"What?" Lucas asked in shock now. "I'm not marrying someone I barely know!" He raised his voice. "You've got another thing coming if you think you can blackmail me into this. I hope you realise that I could snap your neck without any effort, right?"

"Unfortunately I do know that." Rod replied. "You're not just called humanities strongest for your Titan killing skills. Are you?"

"You dont know anything." Lucas tried to call his bluff. "If you really think you can intimidate me with your empty threats, you're sorely mistaken."

"It wasn't my intention to try and intimidate you Corporal." Rod tried to apologise, quite poorly though. "However, before Frieda is ready, I should warn you. She can be quite... picky about the company she keeps outside of her family. So I hope you don't get offended if she doesn't want anything to do with you after this meeting."

"Tch, what makes you think I want anything to do with her." Lucas replied. "And before you start, I was ordered to come here by my superior."

"I see..." Rod thought to himself for a moment. "To be blunt Corporal, I hope she doesn't want anything to do with you. You Scouts are all the same, idealistic, you think you can change the natural order of this world while you eat up our tax money."

"That's rich, considering I caught your daughter handing out food to a child that claimed he was an orphan." He shot back. "Unless she's changed her views on helping those in need, she'll always be a naive little girl, no matter how old she is."

"You're a rather rude person Corporal." Rod observed, even if it was glaringly obvious. "I don't suppose you talk to your superiors like that. I'm sure they would love to hear about how you came into my home, belittled me and insulted my daughter."

"You assumed wrong Rod." Lucas corrected him. "My superiors are quite aquatinted with my insults, they don't seem to mind it too much. And I don't think they'd be surprised that I belittled you given the reputation for the nobility to only care about their own interests."

"You may be a Corporal in the Survey Corps, but you act like an insufferable brat!" Rod spat at him. "You're exremely lucky that Frieda seems so enamoured by you, otherwise I would have already had you forcibly removed from my home!"

"You wanna go old man?" Lucas stood up from the chair he was sat in. "I'll crush you like a fucking toothpick."

"Why you-"

"Father! That's enough!" A female voice went off to the side of them both.

"Frieda!" He exclaimed, seemingly panicked. "How long have you been there?" He asked her.

" _Is he scared of his own kid?"_ Lucas asked himself. " _Ha, what a fucking bitch. How the fuck is he scared of her?"_

"I've been here long enough." She replied, crossing her arms against her chest. "I invited the Corporal here as a guest today. I don't appreciate the fact that you just threatened him." She sounded tather angry now. "You may leave now father, I can handle this by myself."

"But Frieda-" He tried to protest but she cut him off once again.

"Leave!" She commanded. "I won't ask again."

"As you wish Frieda." He conceded as he left the room.

"Looks like you finally grew a fucking backbone." Lucas commented to her, quite impressed as to how she just commanded her own father to leave thr room. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're a completely different person to when we last met."

"I have changed a bit since we last met." She confirmed for him. "But we can talk after we do this."

"Do what?" He asked. "I'm not doing anything with you until you explain why you requested my Commander that I come here under false pretences."

"You're right, but I can't tell you what I'm about to do to you." She said to him, he was about to protest but she cut him off. "But I can tell you what I'm about to do is something I must do. I need to make sure that you aren't a sinner."

"A sinner?" He asked, really confused now. "You do realise that I kill Titan's for a living, not people. What could I possibly have done to make me a sinner. The worst thing I've ever done was beat the shit out of some guy that used to bully me when we were supposed to be sparring. You must have some really fucked up views of the world if you think that makes me a sinner."

"Most people that live in the walls are sinners!" Her usually blue eyes now had purple streaks in them. "Their ancestors committed sins across the world before the walls were erected! And now they live in peace despite the fact that they should die for their sins!" She yelled, the purple streaks disappearing from her eyes as they went back to their natural blue.

"What the fuck are you talking about?" Lucas asked, even more confused now. "Have you gone insane? Because that's what it looks like to me from where I'm standing."

"No, I'm sorry about that." She apologised, becoming rather depressed now. "I just... I need to know whether or not you are one. I don't think you are, but I need to be sure."

"I hope you realise what you're saying." He replied to her. "Because I don't understand a fucking word that just came out of your mouth."

"Come here." She beckoned him over to her. "It will only take a moment. I just need you for a second."

"I'm not going anywhere near you." He replied, taking a step back. "You're clearly unstable, you should really get some help with... whatever you have. Then I might consider coming within a ten foot radius of you."

"Ugh. Why must you make this so difficult!" Her eyes gained the purple streaks again as she stormed over to him. "I just need to know if you are a sinner! It's not that hard to understand!" She was inside his personal space now as she had him backed up against a wall, she was slightly taller than him by a few centimetres. "Hold still!" She commanded him.

"Get the fuck off me!" He growled out as she placed cupped his face with both of her hands. He refrained from his usual method of removing someone from his personal space by throwing them out of it, hitting a noble was a surefire way to get him either thrown in prison, or even hanged.

"I said hold still!" She commanded, closing her eyes and pressing her forehead to his, which he was even more confused at now.

"If you don't remove yourself from my personal space within the next five seconds, I'm going to throw you through a wall." He threatened her.

"No need for that." She said as she pulled back, smiling at him. "I was right, you're not a sinner!" She exclaimed.

"I could have told you that." He hissed at her. "But you must have mind reading powers if you can tell that by mushing your head against mine."

"I'm sorry about that." She apologised, her eyes back to blue once again, but Lucas didn't comment on that, he was probably just seeing things. "But now that I know you aren't a sinner, there's something I'd like us to do together."

"No." He deadpanned. "I'm not going to fuck someone I barely know, and to be honest, you could do so much better than me anyway."

"That's not what I had in mind!" She shrieked, her cheeks burning red. "I was going to visit my sister today, she lives on a farm about an hour away... and I wanted you to come and meet her."

"Why?" He asked in confusion. "Wouldn't it be easier to take some stuck up rich guy with you. I'm pretty sure your father despises me anyway."

"Don't make it difficult." She huffed. "If you come meet my sister, I can make sure that the Survey Corps stays funded for the foreseeable future." She tried to tempt him with. "Would that be acceptable Corporal?"

"Tch, that would assume that I joined them for some noble reason." He scoffed at her. "Maybe I just like killing things and this is the only way to to it legally. Who's to say that I'll stop killing if we lose funding?"

"No." She stated. "You may act like someone I despise, but you have a pure heart." She explained to him. "I can tell because you're sin free. So... what will it be Corporal Ackerman?"

"Tch, fine." He reluctantly agreed. "But only because Erwin would have my head if I didn't agree to this. Not for any other reason, that clear?"

"Of course." She smiled at him. "Come on, we can leave now. I'm sure Historia will love to meet you." She said, grabbing his hand and dragging him out of the house and to a carriage that was waiting outside.

Once they were in the carriage, Frieda put on a straw hat that had been in the seat waiting for her while Lucas sat across from her, but he was wondering why they were traveling to a farm to meet her sister, most likely she was an illegitimate child, but he wanted to make sure before he made any assumptions.

"So... why are we heading to a farm to meet your sister?" He asked her. "Wouldn't it make more sense for her to live at your house?"

"Well... she's actually my half sister." Frieda admitted to him. "My father has some... quite disgusting habits that I do not approve of."

"Why would you put up with that?" He asked her. "If my dad cheated on my mom I would've beaten the shit out of him. There's no point in being with someone if there's no loyalty between them. It's quite disgusting in my opinion, don't marry someone if you're going to cheat."

"I would mostly agree with you on that." She agreed with him. "But my father is the one that has Reiss blood in him, my mother would be thrown out if she didn't put up with it."

"The mother." He began. "Is it that maid? Alma I think her name was."

"How did you know?" Frieda asked in shock at his guess.

"I wasn't promoted to Corporal at seventeen just because I'm good at killing Titan's." He replied. "You can't just be strong to survive out there, you have to be smart as well. Plus, I caught him staring when I arrived at your home." He explained. "If you want, I can permanently make sure he keeps it in his pants, can't take it out if there's nothing left."

"That's so sweet of you to offer." She replied. "But I'd rather not have you hanged for castrating a noble."

"Tch, your loss." He scoffed. "But seriously, that's fucked up what he did to you and your family. If I were you, I would have sliced his balls off and made him eat some testicle soup."

"Please. Don't put that image in my head." She pleaded with him. "But why don't we get to know each other better?" She suggested. "We have about an hour until we arrive, so it will help pass the time."

" _I should've just stabbed Rod when I have the chance."_ He thought to himself. " _At least the MP's arresting me wouldn't try and get to know me."_

Around an hour of answering questions later, the carriage stopped a little bit away from the farm, allowing Frieda and an extremely annoyed Lucas to step out of the carriage and make their way towards the farm.

There was a fence that went the whole way around the farm so than none of the animals could escape, on the other side of the fence there was a little blonde girl, she looked to be about the same age as Mikasa, Lucas thought that was Historia and it was confirmed as she ran up to the fence after seeing Frieda.

"Big sister!" She exclaimed running over as Frieda gently climbed over the fence while Lucas stayed on the other side. "Who's that?" She asked, hiding behind Frieda at the sight of a boy.

"This is my friend Lucas." She told her. "Be nice to him Historia. It wouldn't be very lady like to ignore him, would it?"

"No big sister." She giggled, but then winced in pain which both Frieda and Lucas noticed.

"What's wrong?" Frieda asked her, to which Historia replied by holding her hand out to her, which had a splinter in it.

"I wanted to see you again big sister. So... I tried climbing the fence." She admitted to her.

"You know you shouldn't do that." Frieda replied as she pulled the splinter out of her hand. "You can't cross the fence." She reminded her.

"What's so bad about her crossing the fence?" Lucas asked, although he knew the girl was being kept a secret because she was an illegitimate child, he didn't really see the issue. "You can't keep her locked up here forever, eventually she-"

"DIDN'T I TELL YOU, NOT TO CROSS THE FENCE!?" Frieda screamed at her sister, shocking both Lucas and Historia at her outburst, but her eyes had changed colour again, the purple streaks returning before fading away.

"I'm so sorry Historia." Frieda apologised, slumping down to the ground while holding her head in her hands. "I just want you to be safe. You need to be able to rely on people so they can rely on you too."

"Tch, you don't need to be able to rely on people." Lucas disagreed with her. "Relying on other people isn't always a good thing, I've abandoned soldiers when they relied on me the most, just because I was ordered to keep moving forward."

"I'm going to get us something to eat." Frieda announced. "Historia, why don't you and Lucas get to know each other better." She suggested.

"Okay big sister." Historia giggled, seemingly forgetting her previous outburst.

"And you." She turned to Lucas, the purple streaks returning once more. "Curse in the presence of my sister and I'll make you regret it."

"Tch, whatever." He rolled his eyes as ahe seemed satisfied at that. "Like you could do anything anyway." He mumbled to himself.

"Hey, Mr Lucas." Historia got his attention. "How do you know big sister Frieda?" She asked him.

"I met her in the city." He replied. "She was handing out food like an idiot, some brat scammed her and I pointed it out to her. Now two years later I get a request to meet her father, instead she pretended to read my mind, decided I wasn't a sinner, and now we're here."

"You've known her for years?" She gasped at him. "That's a really long time. Do you like her?"

"No I don't like her." He denied. "She's an idiot, well she used to be, now she's just insane. It's like she has an obsession with sins. It's just plain creepy. And now I seem to be the target of that obsession, she's lucky she's a noble, or I would've beaten some sense into her by now."

"You're not like the other boys Mr Lucas." Historia said to him. "All they do is throw rocks at me. It hurts when they do it. Nobody gives them into trouble for it, so they keep doing it."

"And you don't do anything about it?" He asked, recieving a shake of the head from her in conformation. "Well you should throw rocks back at them next time, forget what Frieda says about being a lady. When a Titan tries to eat me, you think I let it? No, I fight back. In this world, you have to fight, just to survive Historia. Don't ever forget that."

"I don't know Mr Lucas." She sounded conflicted now. "Big sister Frieda says that I should always be nice to others, even if they're not nice to me."

"Well... you could at least move out of the way of the rocks." Lucas suggested. "That way it won't hurt you, but I'm sure those brats will get what's coming to them. I know plenty of people who hurt other people, only to get a much worse taste of their own medicine."

"Isn't medicine supposed to help people?" Historia innocently asked. "You make it sound like it hurts those people."

"Trust me Historia, those shit heads got what was coming to them." He said to her, blatantly ignoring Frieda's, presumably, empty threat. "You'll come across worse people than those shitty brats that throw rocks at you. You just have to be prepared for when the time comes."

"What did you just say?!" Frieda dangerously asked as she had returned with an apple for each of them. "I gave you a clear instruction not to curse in front of her!" The purple streaks had now returned to her eyes now. "You're lucky you're not a sinner, otherwise I would've thrown you about like a sack of potatoes!"

"Yeah. I'm sure you would have." He sarcastically agreed with her. "And I'm sure that the Royal Government will change their minds about thinking the Scouts are a waste of tax."

"I'm sorry." She apologised once again, the purple streaks vanishing again, he was going to ask about that later. "I didn't mean to get angry. I just want Historia to be liked, she doesn't have many friends as you could probably tell."

"More like she doesn't have any friends." He harshly corrected her. "I get that she's an illegitimate child, but you can't keep her cooped up like a chicken the rest of her life. That's no way to live, even I think it's cruel to keep her here. Why don't you take her into town once in a while? Maybe she'll actually make a friend or two." He suggested to her, god he was being nice today, probably because he felt sorry for her situation, that was probably it.

"NO!" Frieda yelled at him, her eyes changing again. "She can't go past the fence, those sinners will corrupt her. I will not allow that to happen!" She declared. "You're not a sinner so you're okay to be here, but the rest aren't. They're sinners, all of them!"

She then sat down once again, looking even more depressed than before with her hands in her hair. "I'm sorry Lucas. I didn't mean to snap at you."

"Tch, it's fine." He tried to make her not feel like shit about herself. "Don't beat yourself up for something that you can't control, it's quite obvious something's wrong with you." He pointed out to her. "But it's also glaringly obvious that your heart's in the right place, that's all that really matters."

"Thank you Corporal." She giggled at him, having been cheered up by him. "That's really sweet of you to say that."

"Call me sweet one more time and I'll show you how I carve up a Titan first hand." He threatened her, but for once, he didn't mean it, well he did, but not fully, only about 95%.

They had spent a few hours at the farm and it was dark outside now, apparently time flies when you're having fun, except Lucas wasn't, he was just counting down the seconds until he was to return to the Scouts, he may not have hated the trip, but it was far from being enjoyable in his eyes.

Once they had arrived at the Reiss Estate, he noticed that Frieda was asleep across from him, drool hanging off her bottom lip.

"Fucking disgusting." He muttered to himself. "Hey! Get up you lazy shit!" He yelled at her, not liking that his time was now being wasted.

"Hmm. What is it?" She tiredly asked him, letting out a yawn as she did.

"We're back." He told her. "Now get the fuck out so I can go home." He said coldly to her.

"I'm tired." She yawned out. "Can you carry me inside please?" She asked him.

"Get the fuck out before I throw you out the carriage."

"You know Lucas... I think you're really cute when you make all those empty threats to people." She grinned at him.

The door to the carriage was flung open with Frieda being tossed out onto the ground below, landing with a thud onto some somewhat soft grass, she groaned out in pain as Lucas spoke to her before he left.

"If you call me cute one more time, I swear I will drag you outside Wall Maria on the next expedition and leave you for dead." He glared at her. "Oh, and you should clean your fucking hair before you sleep, I could fry a fish with all the grease in it I can see from just standing here."

The carriage door slammed shut, collapsing inside somewhat at the force it was closed at as the horse galloped off with the carriage in tow.

"Ow." Frieda groaned as she dusted herself off. "Is my hair really greasy?" She asked herself, feeling through it for any grease. "It is!" She shrieked. "Wait, don't tell me he has a fetish for clean hair." She thought about it for a moment, then realised that he probably did since he told her to cleanher hair, and not her body, since that was what she had actually gotten dirty when she landed on the grass.

"I'll have you all figured out by the next time you are called here Lucas." She promised herself. "I must get father on that right away, and tell him that he isn't a sinner, I didn't have time to tell him before we left to visit Historia." She said out loud. "I do hope he doesn't get mad if I want Lucas to visit again." Her eyes slowly changed again. "It would be a sin to not let the only non sinner I have met visit a few more times."

 **A/N- A longer chapter this time, we're slowly building up to the fall of Shiganshina, but there might be one more chapter for when Grisha explains the "project" he's working on. I do hope I got Frieda's character correct, it's quite difficult to write someone who is prone to outbursts, but now she has a friend who isn't a sinner like everyone else! So all should probably be good there. If you're wondering why Mikasa killed the kidnapper instead of Lucas, it's because she needs her power, and that's the simplest way to give it to her, and in the Lost Girls OVA her mom was pregnant, so it makes sense as to why Grisha was visiting. And if you couldn't tell, Lucas seems to have a fetish of some sort for clean hair, I wonder how that came about, and it isn't because of Levi. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	4. Grisha’s Secret Past

(Scouts HQ)

The door to Erwin's office swung open, revealing a very annoyed Lucas who had just gotten back from Wall Sina, he had slept in the carriage on the way back so he wasn't exactly in the best mood right now, there was barely any padding on those seats.

"Erwin." He growled out, storming over to his desk. "What the fuck did you just get me into?" He demanded.

"What do you mean?" Erwin raised an eyebrow at him. "I take it the meeting didn't go so well." He assumed.

"Really? How the fuck did you manage to guess that?" He sarcastically spat at him. "The meeting wasn't for him, it was for his fucking kid, thing is, I've already met her before, I just didn't know she was a Reiss."

"What could make that so bad?" Erwin asked, genuinely curious about what happened. "If you know her then surely it couldn't have been that bad."

"She's insane Erwin!" He practically yelled at him. "She started spouting all this bullshit about people within the walls being sinners, but then she decided that I wasn't a sinner. I mean, what the fucks that all about?"

"I see..." Erwin thought for a moment. "And the words she used was, "people within the walls", correct?"

"Erwin, not this again." Lucas pleaded with him, he knew what Erwin thought about the Royal Governments apparently subjective textbooks published by them. "Why the fuck would she know anything about that? I get why you're concerned about the Royal Government, I do, my family was persecuted for generations and they did fuck all about it. But you can't keep bringing that up every time someone phrases a sentence that way."

"I didn't know about the persecution. I'm sorry about that." He apologised to him, but Lucas could tell that it was genuine. "But even then, her family holds a great deal of power in the Royal Government, it wouldn't be far fetched to assume that she or her father knows something that the rest of us don't."

"Can we not talk about this right now." Lucas requested. "My back is fucked right now, I just want to lie down when we're finished here."

"Of course." Erwin agreed. "But you were gone a long time Lucas. You must have gotten up to something while you were away. There must be a reason you seem so tired."

"Tch, get your mind out of the gutter old man." Lucas scoffed. "She wanted me to meet her half sister, illegitimate by the way. It seems that Lord Reiss spends more time fucking the maids rather than being with his own children."

"If that were to get out it could ruin their reputation." Erwin summed up. "You'd be best not to mention that to anyone else, especially if you go back. That is a secret that some would be willing to kill for to keep hidden."

"Tch, like they'd even get close enough to try." He scoffed once again. "Anyone who tries to kill me will have their spine forcibly removed so I can shove it down their throat."

"It wouldn't surprise me if you did that." Erwin commented. "But I'm surprised that you went to see her sister, did she offer anything in return."

"She said that she would keep the Survey Corps funded for the foreseeable future if I went with her." He revealed, Erwin's eyes lighting up at that. "So I went, not because I wanted to, but because you'd probably have my head if I didn't."

"Of course that's the reason." Erwin said to him. "We can't have anyone thinking that the esteemed Corporal Ackerman has grown attached to anyone from the interior, let alone a noble."

"Tch, shut the fuck up eyebrows." Lucas insulted him. "I am not growing attached to that woman." He denied. "She's even more insane than Hange, and that's saying something."

"It's quite a shame you should say that." Erwin said as he produced a letter from the top drawer of his desk. "Because Commander Shadis recieved this letter around an hour before you arrived back." Lucas felt his scowl deepen at that. "It seems that you made quite the impression on Miss Reiss, her father has requested that we turn this one off visit into a more... permanent arrangement."

"No. I am not going back there." He was getting angry now. "Didn't I just tell you that she's insane!" He yelled at him. "She's obsessed with sins and sinners. It's only a matter of time before she becomes obsessed with me instead! I will not be forced into marrying that girl just to satisfy some crazy need she has!"

"No one's going to make you marry her Lucas." Erwin tried to calm him down. "But Shadis and I are in agreement that you should spend more time with her." Lucas scowled at him for that. "At the very least it will create new communication links between the Scouts and the Noble families who oppose the Survey Corps existence. Who knows, maybe something will come out of this arrangement."

"Fuck you Erwin." Lucas spat at him. "I'm not so shallow as to take advantage of some girl that clearly has something wrong with her. It may not seem like it, but I do actually have morals that I believe in."

"I never said that you didn't." Erwin countered. "I'm just saying, you can't predict what will happen in the future. You can't possibly predict what could happen when you continue meeting with her, maybe you will grow attached."

"Tch, look at you, always looking for a way to keep the Scouts in business." Lucas said to him. "I will not be a part of some scheme to marry that girl just so you can fulfill some fantasy about the outside world."

"Lucas." Erwin said sternly. "I will not force you into marrying her. But I will order you to continue to meet with her, think of it as doing your part for humanity, but instead of killing Titan's, you're just talking with someone. Talking can be just as important for our survival as destroying our enemy."

"Even if you're right about a Government conspiracy to cover up the existence of humanity outside the walls." Lucas began. "Who is really our greatest enemy?"

"That is something I cannot answer Lucas." Erwin solemnly responded. "All we can hope for is the best outcome in the end."

Lucas sighed to himself. "How often will I have to meet her? Please tell me it's only once a month." He pleaded with Erwin.

"The request was a few times a month, three at the minimum, but me and Shadis made time for four visits a month, once a week it will be." He told him, earning a sigh in frustration from the Corporal in front of him.

"I need a fucking drink." Lucas said, massaging his forehead. "Hopefully I'll forget all this happened and I can live the rest of this week in peace until reality comes crashing down onto me."

"I still don't quite see the problem with meeting Miss Reiss once a week." Erwin commented. "Many men your age would kill for the opportunity to even get the attention of someone like her. But you don't seem to pleased about it."

"Something's off about her Erwin." He revealed. "Every time she was set off, her eyes had these purple streaks in them, she acted like she was possessed. Then she would get really depressed about it afterwards." He explained. "And I threw her out of the carriage."

"You assaulted a noble?" Erwin asked, shocked at his behaviour.

"It wasn't assault." He denied. "She said I was "cute" when I threatened to throw her out of the carriage, so I made good on the threat."

"If she reported you for that assault there will be nothing that we can do for you." Erwin sternly reminded him. "The best we could hope for would be a court martial, at least then we could plead your case to someone like Premier Zackly."

"Tch, she won't report it." He retorted. "She was too busy worrying about her filthy hair to mind that I assaulted her." He waved off Erwin's concern for him. "It was abhorrent, I could have fried a fish with all the grease I could see from where I was standing."

"What am I going to do with you Lucas?" Erwin asked him. "You may leave now, I have to sort out transportation for your weekly visits to Sina."

"You could promote me to Captain." Lucas suggested. "I could always use the pay rise." He said as he opened the door.

"If you need a pay rise you could always join the Military Police." Erwin joked. "I'm sure Nile would love to have someone of your calibre joining them."

"Don't tempt me." Lucas scowled, slamming the door shut as he left.

(845, 3 days before the next expedition)

For the best part of a year, Lucas had been making weekly trips to the interior much to his annoyance, he could deal with going once or twice a month, but once a week was killing him. Overall they had gotten to know each other quite well given that she seemed insane to him and he was usually rude to everyone he met. Rod quite clearly didn't like him, that much was obvious, but he couldn't do anything because he seemed to shit himself every time Frieda got angry with him.

A few weeks ago his mother went into labour, she had given the responsibility of naming the child to him, he was convinced that it would be a girl, so he chose the name Hinami. Unfortunately after a few hours of labour, Hinami was stillborn. His mother had been in tears for hours after that, he had left his pride outside as he held her for hours after that, with Mikasa joining in after she had found out what happened from Doctor Yeager who had been helping with the birthing process.

But now a few days before their next expedition, Grisha had requested Lucas come by his home in Shiganshina, saying that his project was nearly finished and that he would explain it to him.

Once he had arrived and knocked on the door, still wearing his Scout uniform since he didn't really have any other clothes to wear, plus he had to go back to the HQ later that day, so it was easier that way. Carla wasn't too thrilled since she thought he would fill Eren's head with ideas of what's outside the wall, but Lucas had agreed not to talk about the outside world to Eren, respecting her wishes since she had been so hospitable with Mikasa and his mother.

"Good. You're here." Grisha said as he waa the one that opened the door to let him in. "Have a seat at the table, I'll only be a moment." He gestured to the table in the middle of the room that his mother and Eren sat while Mikasa was helping Carla with the dishes.

"Lucas!" Carla exclaimed as she was the first to notice him. "It's good to see you again, but what brings you here?"

"I asked him to come dear." Grisha replied to her. "I'm going to show Lucas what I've been working on in the basement."

"What?!" Eren yelled. "Why would you show him but not me?" He questioned.

"Because Eren, Lucas here understands what is most important in this world." Grisha replied. "Once you understand that, I'll show you what I've been working on."

"So unfair." Eren claimed. "I don't even understand what that means."

"Hey mom." Lucas said as he sat down next to her at the table. "I know I keep asking, but are you okay? And I don't mean that you tell me you are when you aren't."

"I'm fine Lucas." She replied to him.

"Mom." Lucas said, gently grabbing onto her hand. "I know it must be hard for you after what happened, but as much as I hate to say this, you can't let it keep you down forever. Eventually you have to accept what happened and keep living your life. If you can't do it for yourself, do it for me, if not for me do if for Mikasa. I've never seen you this sad in your life, and to be honest, it's getting annoying now." He told her, getting a gasp from Carla who was listening intently to him.

"Lucas..." His mom tried to protest but he cut her off.

"The first time I saw someone get eaten out there I was horrified at how she had died. I blamed myself at first, but it only took Erwin three minutes to tell me to get over it, that it would dull my decisions in the future if I began to regret it." He said, earning a gasp from everyone apart from Grisha who had went down to the basement to prepare for him. "I know that dad's death took a huge toll on you, and with what happened four weeks ago must have made it worse, but you can't keep living lke you having nothing left to live for. You still have me and Mikasa here, I may not admit it, but when I see you happy, it makes me happy and when I see you depressed like this, it pisses me off because there's fuck all that I tried to do about it."

"Lucas." She whispered once again, tears forming in her eyes.

"Mom. I can't possibly imagine the emotional pain that you're going through right now. But what I can do is be there to support you, I know Mikasa will be as well. So please, will you try to be happy again, because we won't leave you. I promise you that." He strongly declared to her.

"Oh Lucas." She cried, wrapping her arms around his neck and holding herself against him as tight as she could. "What would I do without you?" She whispered to him.

"You could include your other child in the hug." He said, gesturing to Mikasa who was now standing next to them as she was then swiftly wrenched into the hug by her mother.

"I'm so sorry you two." She apologised. "I... wasn't thinking clearly. But now I promise I will try to be happier for you two from now on." She promised them as she held them both close to her.

"Lucas." Carla spoke up after they had broken the hug. "While as a mother I do not particularly approve of your career choice. I must say, you do have a way with words when you let your heart do the talking instead of your head."

"I'm not sure whether to take that as an insult or a compliment." He grumbled. "However, you have a food stain in your hair, I suggest that you clean it before I finish talking with your husband or I will have to clean it myself."

"Of course Lucas." Carla laughed. "I shall deal with that when I finish the dishes."

Lucas then walked to the door that lead to the basement when he stopped at the door and turned to Mikasa. "Oh and Mikasa, don't think I can't tell what that filthy scarf is doing to your hair, either you wash the scarf soon, or I'll have it thrown over the wall to stop it from getting your hair any filthier." He finished as he continued walking down the stairs and into the basement.

When he walked in he saw that Grisha was sat at the desk with his hands under his chin, clearly contemplating something while he had a small piece of paper in his hand. On the desk there were three books layed out infront of him, they looked like notebooks to Lucas.

"Why don't you take a seat Lucas." Grisha suggested. "This might be a lot to take in, but I implore you to wait until the end of my story before you say anything."

"You're not going to tell me that ghosts are real are you?" Lucas tried to joke as he sat down. "Because I could think of crazier things off the top of my head."

"When you look at this." He handed him the piece of paper in his hands. "What do you see?"

He looked at the paper, only to see that it was a picture, only the detail was incredible, whoever drew this must have been a genius. The picture contained a younger looking Grisha with a woman and a child, except it wasn't Carla and Eren. The woman had blonde hair and if he was being honest, looked a little like Frieda, the child also had blonde hair and looked like Grisha, while Eren mostly resembled Carla.

"This is you." Lucas stated. "But this isn't Carla and Eren." He observed. "Was this drawn before you met her."

"Lucas, that portrait wasn't drawn by anybody." Grisha took a deep breath, prepared to tell him the truth. "This is an imprint of a subjects' reflected light onto a special kind of paper. It is known as a photograph." Grisha told him before continuing as Lucas looked confused now. "I came from beyond the walls, where humanity enjoys a refined existence."

Lucas just stared at him after that, eyes wide and his mouth hung open in shock.

"Humanity has not perished Lucas."

"... You're fucking with me, right?" Lucas asked him. "There's no way you could have come from beyond the walls, you would have been eaten. Even I couldn't cross that much Titan territory, let alone without ODM gear."

"I'm not lying Lucas." Grisha assured him. "That photo is of me and my first wife Dina, with our son Zeke. Dina was a member of the Royal Family that stayed behind on the mainland when the first King of the walls moved his people here."

"Is this some kind of sick joke that Erwin put you up to because I threatened to shave his eyebrows off?" Lucas angrily asked. "Because if it is, I will burn every root of hair from his eyebrows leaving him looking like a freak!"

"Lucas!" Grisha demanded his attention now. "I plead you to not interupt again, I'm going to tell you the story of how I came to be here, and what I need your help with. I trust you with this information because you realise the most important thing is that humanity continues to survive, no matter the amount of lives lost in the process! So will you please hear me out?"

"Fine. I'm listening." Lucas growled out as he crossed his arms across his chest.

(Liberio, 817)

"Hurry Faye!" Grisha urged his younger sister, he was eager to see the Zeppelins today and didn't want to waste any time.

"Hey, wait." His mother said to the two, they didn't have their armbands on, that was a one way trip to Utopia, even if they were just kids.

"We won't be able to see it if we don't hurry." Grisha urged his sister once more.

"Wait you two." His mother said once again, carrying their armbands in her hands. "Didn't I tell you to always have your armbands on when you go outside?" She reminded Grisha, putting his armband on, the nine pointed star of Eldia, it represented the nine Titan powers that only Eldians could inherit. "Grisha." His mother started. "You must absolutely not go past the walls. Okay?"

" _When I thought of where I should begin, that day first came to my mind."_ _Grisha told Lucas who was listening intently_. " _The day in my youth that I was forced to face the truth of this world."_

The Zeppelin then passed over the district of Liberio, so Grisha and Faye went to follow it.

"Be careful Grisha!" A middle aged Eldian scolded him. "Watch where you're going."

"Sorry." Grisha apologised.

"Wow..." His sister gaped at the Zeppelin overhead. "How do those things fly?" She asked.

"It's full of hydrogen. That's how it floats." Grisha explained to his sister who just seemed confused. "I heard that batteries are used to power the propeller."

"Who's inside it?" Faye asked.

"Someone rich, of course." Grisha responded.

"Heey!" She tried to wave at the blimp overhead as it went over the wall.

"Oh, there it goes." Grisha stated.

"It's so nice." Faye said. "I wonder if I'll be able to ride a blimp if I become rich some day."

"What're you talking about? There's no way any of us could ever become rich." Grisha told her.

"Yeah." She sighed. "But... it seems nice. I wonder what you can see from up there?" She watched it disappear over the wall. "And now it's gone."

"Lets go Faye." Grisha said as he grabbed her hand. "My teacher says that blimps take off and land in a place close to here." He explained to her. "Let's go see it!"

"But mom said we couldn't go past the walls!" Faye tried to protest.

"It's fine." He assured her as they moved towards the gate. "It'll just be for a minute."

"Hey! Wait you two!" The guard at the gate yelled as the ran past him.

"We'll be right back!" Grisha yelled back at him as they continued to run.

While Grisha and Faye were outside the internment zone they were getting a lot of disgusted stares from other people around them.

"Move you vermin!" A man yelled as they accidentally bumped into him.

"Oh, a couple of filthy blooded children?" One man spoke up to another.

"What are they doing crawling around here?" The other asked, seemingly disgusted at their presence.

"Grisha." His sister spoke up, sweating a lot because she was so nervous.

"It's okay... you're used to it by now. Aren't you?" He asked her. "Look!" He said as they came upon a set of stairs. "It's right there! Just on the other side of the embankment."

They both climbed the stairs just in time to see the blimp being wheeled into a hangar on the airfield.

"It's so big!" Faye gaped at it.

"Came to see the blimp too?" A soldier asked, lying down on the hill a few feet away from him, with another one next to him.

"Y... Yes." Grisha nervously responded as Faye hid behind him.

"You're from the Liberio internment zone. Aren't you?" He asked, noticing their armbands. "Show me your exit permit." He ordered them.

"Uh... Er..." Grisha pretended to fumble with his pockets as the soldier put his cap back on and stood up. "I don't have one." He told them.

"So you entered the city without authorisation?" The soldier asked him.

"...Yes." Grisha responded.

"You know what that means for you right?" The soldier asked him.

"...Yes." He replied again.

"Which'll it be?" He asked. "Labour, or punishment?"

"Punishement!" Faye squeaked out. "Grisha?!" She was panicking now.

"Hmm... don't want to cause trouble for your parents, huh?" The soldier asked as he was now crouched down to Grisha's height.

"Yes..." Grisha responded before trying to protect his sister. "I forced my sister to come out here with me." He told the soldier. "Please, punish me in her place too!" He pleaded.

"All right." The soldier calmly responded before sending his knee into Grisha's gut, sending spit flying out his mouth as his sister cried out for him. "One more." He said while his partner began to escort the crying Faye away from them.

"I can't believe it... you're merciless Kruger." His partner told him, but then turned his attention to Faye. "C'mon little girl... let's get you home first." He said as he lead her off into the distance.

"It was smart if you to keep your armbands on." Kruger commented as he sat down to have a smoke while Grisha was in pain. "Any Eldian who takes theirs off gets sent straight to Utopia, even kids like you."

"I'm... going back." Grisha managed to get out to Kruger.

"Wait." Kruger stopped him from leaving. "You came to see the blimp, didn't you?" He asked. "You're already here, might as well see it first."

" _When I got home, my little sister wasn't around." Grisha told Lucas, trying to hold back tears at the story_. " _She was found in the river the next day._ " _He revealed._

"As I explained time and time again, I took her to the border of Liberio. No farther." The soldier who was with Kruger yesterday explained. "I was busy with work to do. And it was her fault to begin with, an Eldian child shouldn't be wandering around town without permission." He explained to Grisha's parents.

"It seems that your son doesn't fully understand your tribes position." He observed. "You've been teaching him about the ills committed by your ancestors, havent you? If that's not enough, then throw a collar on him." He suggested.

" _I knew that this man from the Marley Public Security Authorities was lying. He was skipping out on his job and sleeping by the riverside." Grisha explained. "He could not have been busy." Grisha growled out. "My mother was overwhelmed by sorrow... while my father... demeaned himself in front of these men."_

"Thank you very much for your guidance." Mr Yeager thanked the soldier. "Be assured, I will teach my foolish son those lessons once again."

" _When I saw my father, and this man... I began to have so much hate for them that I began to feel dizzy." Grisha told him. "But even more than that... I cursed my own foolishness."_

1820 years ago, our ancestor Ymir Fritz... made a contract with the devil of all earth to gain a power. The power of the Titans." Mr Yeager told Grisha. "After her death, Ymir's soul was split into the nine Titans, who built the empire of Eldia. Eldia was a great nation that destroyed Marley and came to rule our continent." He explained.

"That is when the dark ages began. The subjects of Ymir, who had gained the power to turn into Titans, designated all other races and peoples as inferior and began to oppress them." His father explained. "They stole away their land and possessions, wiping out main lands entirely. Eldians forced other peoples to have their children, so that there would be more subjects of Ymir. This ethnic cleansing lasted for around 1700 years."

"Eldia's arrogance grew to no limits, but the people of the once great nation of Marley began to plot against them from within. They were able to incite a civil war, weakening Eldia. Not only that, but they were able to put seven of the nine Titans under their control, and were victorious in the great Titan was eighty years ago."

"King Fritz was left only with the island of Paradis." He said, pointing to an island to the north east of Marley. "And there he built three layers of walls before escaping with his people. But not all of them, we non-Marleyan Eldians that remained... were abandoned by them and left behind on this continent."

"Normally... it wouldn't have been surprising if Marley decided to eradicate us all given our position. But the very fact we think that must be because we're descendants of devils. The tolerant people of Marley did not kill us, they gave us land we could live on."

" _My father was talkative for someone who had just lost his daughter." Grisha recalled his memories of that moment. "When I saw him there, defending his master's orders as he belittled his ancestors with joy... he looked just like a dog."_

 _"It sounds like he was just trying to keep you safe Grisha." Lucas commented on that._

 _"Yes. I realise that now, but back then... I was way in over my head." He admitted. "But I discovered my own path when I was eighteen. Just as I was planning to take over running my father's clinic indifferent to it all."_

 _"The man I was treating said he was part of the Eldia Restorationists and that their informant inside the Marley Government said that an officer had killed Faye. I worked in the field of medicine. And I had a strong hatred of the Marley Government." He explained._

 _"The underground Anti-Establishment group called the Eldia Restorationists took note of these two points and came to recruit me." He revealed to Lucas, who still had his neutral expression on his face. "When I learned the truth about my little sister. I made a vow to myself. I'd teach them who the true devils were. What our ancestors had done was right."_

 _"If we wanted to set the world right once more... we had to bring Eldia back to power."_

 _"You sound like a fanatic." Lucas pointed out, which Grisha ignored._

 _"Our informant inside the Marley Government was known as "The Owl", they guided the Restorationists without ever showing themselves to us. They supplied us with weapons, and funds, and gave us historical documents that Eldian's in those days no longer knew about."_

 _"I decided to devote myself... to wherever fate took me."_

 _"You should have created your own fate, maybe then you wouldn't be stuck here." Lucas snorted._

 _"There was a branch of the Royal Family that refused to flee to the island at the end of the Great Titan War and stayed on the continent. She was the only descendant of that group."_

 _"Dina?" Lucas guessed._

 _"Yes." Grisha confirmed for him. "Her family waited for the day that Eldia rose again... and lived in hiding inside the internment zone, together with the knowledge of the Titans held by the Royal Family. The information she brought the Revivalists was nothing short of a path to victory."_

"I'm sure of it!" Grisha exclaimed as he was on the stage alongside Dina. "It's certain when you compare it to the Marley Government information The Owl provided us!"

"The Founding Titan that King Fritz took with him to inside the walls!" He yelled. "That is the key to Eldia's restoration! The Founding Titan has the ability to rule and control other Titans!" He explained to the crowd of restorationists. "If only we can get our hands on it, we will be able to destroy Marley once more!"

"But... if King Fritz has that kind of absolute power... Why did he retreat to the Island?" A Restorationist asked.

"Because..." Dina started. "He refused to fight." She revealed to them. "The Great Titan War began in the first place when the 145th King inherited the Founding Titan. Until then, the houses that split the eight Titan's had been locked in constant conflict for generations. Yet balance was kept in Eldia through the Royal Family's presenting of the Founding Titan. But the 145th King abandoned those duties and moved the capital to a remote island. Our family could not agree with that, causing us to part ways."

"These pitiful days... we've been made to suffer... all started when the King turned away from conflict." Dina explained to them all.

"Let's fight." Grisha proclaimed. "It's clear what we have to do. We'll take back the Founding Titan from the King who abandoned us and fled to inside those walls." Grisha told told them all. "And then we will offer it to the true Royal Family!" He yelled. "The line that stayed behind on this continent for our sake, the Eldian people!"

"My fellow brothers!" Grisha tried to pump up the crowd. "Let us overthrow Marley! Let us right this false history! And let us regain our pride as Eldians!"

"My fellow brothers!" He raised his arm into the air. "WE FIGHT UNTIL THE DAY THAT ELDIA RETURNS!" Grisha then looked over towards Dina, who had tears in her eyes. She then latched onto a stunned Grisha as she cried onto his shirt.

" _We were married the next year." He told Lucas. "And we were blessed with a baby boy. His name was Zeke. Then one age turned into another... and people changed. Just as the world was growing rapidly. A turning point came for the Eldia Restorationists."_

" _They Marley Government decided that they needed the natural resources stored on Paradis Island so they could keep pace with the growing technology of the other nations. So they decided to train children from age five to seven and turn them into Titan Shifters that would fight for them. After meeting with the other Restorationists I decided that I would send my son Zeke there to be our spy."_

 _"You sent a five year old kid, to be your spy?" Lucas asked him._

 _"Yes. That was how I came to entrust my son with the pride of Eldia... while also sending him to be a warrior of Marley who pledged his alliegence to an enemy state. But sure enough... I was no different from the foolish child I was all those years earlier."_

 _"Around the time my son turned seven, he betrayed both me and my wife to the Marley Government. The Eldia revivalists were all sent to Utopia. Doomed to become man eating Titan's that wandered the Island of Paradis for eternity, the beginning of the unthinkable tragedy, where Eldian's eat their own kind."_

 _Lucas felt his throat go dry at that, it had been inferred earlier, but he didn't want to believe he had spent the last three years running around killing humans._

 _"What happened after you were arrested?" Lucas asked. "I don't give a shit about what your son did to you. I want to know how you got here."_

 _"Very well." Grisha conceded. "I was tortured for information by the Marleyans. They beat me, starved me, tore my nails out, even cut my fingers off. I told them everything, but it wasn't enough for them, because they still decided to take me to Paradis Island to turn me into a mindless Titan."_

(832, Paradis Island Southern Port)

"We're here." A soldier announced, taking the blindfold off Grisha's face.

"This is..." Grisha trailed off after looking into the distance, he knew exactly where he was.

"That's right." The soldier replied. "Paradis, the penal colony for the Eldian traitors, the borderline to Utopia." He explained. "You're going to be serving a life sentence here for the crime of treason, and you'll be serving it as a mindless Titan. You'll sense humans, chase humans and eat humans, that's all you'll be doing until the day you die. But... the problem is that there's almost no way to die."

"I... I've met you before." Grisha spoke up. "When I was a child."

"... So you remember." The soldier stated.

"How could I ever forget... that day?" Grisha replied, looking down the wall he was kneeling upon.

"Please... kill me." Another one of the prisoners begged the soldier who was walking him down the wall. "No... No, not a Titan." He begged.

"Keep walking." The soldier ordered him.

"Grice..." Grisha spoke up, recognising the voice.

"Hm? Is that you Grisha?!" He asked. "Hey! What's going on?! Why would Zeke inform on us?!" He asked. "Hey..." He said as Grisha said nothing. "C'mon, say something!" He pleaded. "He's your son isn't he?! How the hell do you raise a kid who'd sell out his own parents?! Maybe you're the person we should be blaming here!"

"You know what?! You were all talk! You never did a thing for us!" Grice yelled at him. "It was a mistake to entrust you with everything! The Restorationists! Dina too! Say something!" He demanded.

"I'm sorry." Grisha apologised.

"Why did I ever let you... Eldia... is finished." He said, giving up hope for himself.

"Seems we have a live one." One of the officers stated. "You're free to go." He said, kicking him off the edge of the wall.

"GRICE!" Grisha yelled down to his friend who had managed to survive the fall.

"Those are sand dunes down there. We want to make sure it's hard to die from a fall, even a thirty plus metre one." The soldier behind Grisha told him.

"Hey Grice?!" Grisha called down to him.

"Run straight north!" The soldier who kicked him off the wall yelled down to him. "You'll make it to the wall if you're lucky!" He yelled, while Grice had started to run.

"Sergeant Major Gross?" One of the others asked, confused at his actions.

"Hm? This your first time here?" Gross asked. "The Titans don't come close to the ocean. But by doing this, he'll attract the Titans that are about to be created and get them away from here. It makes our job easier." He explained. "Eh, he'll be eaten in no time anyway. Isn't that right Kruger?"

"Eh." Kruger said, seemingly not paying attention.

"We've got a bunch of them today!" Gross announced to the other soldiers. "Let's get this going!" He ordered.

"Ah. Everyone..." Grisha trailed off, seeing all the others being injected with a serum and then kicked off the wall, turning into mindless Titans after they hit the ground.

"Stop it all of you!" Grisha yelled as they began to chase after Grice. "Don't you understand?! That's Grice!"

"Hey Kruger. Hurry up and turn him into a Titan. I can't stand all that noise." Gross complained.

"No... I still want to interrogate him." Kruger replied. "You go ahead."

"Yeah, okay. Don't work yourself to hard, all right?" Gross told him. ""Oh, a woman next? What a waste, if only she didn't have devils blood in her." He commented.

"Dina..." Grisha whispered.

"Grisha..." Dina whispered back.

"Why... is she here? Did you not get the message?" He asked. "I... I told you all about her!" He yelled. "She ought to be valuable to you Marleyans! There's Royal blood inside of her-"

"Shut up." Kruger stated as he slammed Grisha's head onto the stone wall.

"What's the matter?" Gross asked.

"I couldn't stand hearing his nonsense." Kruger replied. "Continue your work."

"Honestly... just turn him into a Titan and shut him up already." Gross suggested to him.

"Grisha... I... No matter what I become... Don't worry. I'll find you." Dina told him as she was injected with the serum, giving him a smile.

"Heh, sounds good." Gross said as he kicked her off the edge. "You two have a nice life together as Titans."

"DINAAA!" Grisha yelled as she transformed into a fourteen metre Titan with blonde hair and a horrible smile.

"Look!" Gross yelled out while laughing as Dina's Titan form went after Grice. "She won't even look at you. She's going right after little Grice! Guess she was really interested in him after all." He laughed.

"Shut up." Grisha demanded.

"Did you just say something?" Gross replied.

"It was you." Grisha stated. "Fifteen years ago... you fed my sister to dogs... You fed my eight year old little sister to dogs!" He yelled at him. "It was you, wasn't it?!"

"Is he the last one?" Gross asked as the brought up another Eldian, receiving conformation he continued. "Okay, let me handle him. Start heading back to the ship, all of you." He ordered.

"You're done with your interrogation, aren't you Kruger." Gross asked once the others had went back down the stairs. "We're going to be making him dance today."

"Dance?!" Grisha asked, confused at what Gross meant.

"I remember you now son. I'm not going to make you a Titan." He told Grisha. "I decided he's going to be eating you." He gestured to the Eldian that was still blindfolded. "I'll be sure to make him a three or four metre Titan. So you fight him. And I'd appreciate it if you could hold out for as long as you can."

"You... why... are you doing this?" Grisha asked him.

"Why?" Gross repeated. "You want to know... why? Because it's fun... why else?" Gross stated. "It's fun to watch humans get eaten by monsters. Sure some people might not want to see that. But people want to see brutality. It's been peaceful for dozens of years since we were freed from Eldian rule, right? That's great and all, but it must make it feel like something is lacking. Maybe what you'd call the feeling of being alive? You barely get it any more these days."

"I don't know how many people out there feel that every day could be their last, but that's supposed to be the normal state of mind for any creature." Gross said while preparing the injection. "You're seen as strange if you think that way when you live in a society that takes peace for granted. Not me." He said as he injected the man.

"We all die, but I'm prepared to accept that reality when my day comes. And that's because I face the truth of this cruel world and seek to better understand it. Of course, it's important to have fun while you learn." He commented. "And you know, it was education when I fed your little sister to my sons' dogs. They grew up to be fine young men thanks to that." He said, kicking the Eldian off the edge.

"Your heart... does it not hurt?" Grisha asked him.

"Eh. I understand what you want to say." Gross told him. "My chest tightens at the thought of any of my sons meeting the same fate. It's not as if they did anything wrong, after all."

"Yes... my sister only wanted to see the blimp." Grisha replied. "She wanted to dream of riding it to somewhere far away."

"Poor thing." Gross commented. ""If only she wasn't an Eldian." He said, confusing Grisha. "Get a good look at that." Gross pointed to the Titan below. "That's who you people really are." He reminded him. "All it takes is for your bodies to absorb some Titan spinal fluid and you turn into giant monsters. And you think you can call yourselves just as human as us?"

"You "subjects of Ymir" from the Eldian empire are the only creatures in the world like that. It's nothing short of a nightmare that these beasts in human skin were allowed to multiply in large numbers." Gross said to Grisha. "It may be peaceful now, but even though we finally freed ourselves fron their control, rats like you pop up every once in a while. Understand?" He asked. "All of humanity wishes for the same thing. For every last Eldian to be eliminated from this world."

"What did you say?" Grisha asked him.

"Don't do anything about rats that take up living in your home and it can lead to an epidemic. So of course you need to eliminate them." Gross explained his point of view to Grisha. "Does my heart not hurt? How could it? Don't make it sound like I'm killing humans." He leaned down to Grisha's level. "You're the killer here. What were you Restorationists trying to do to Marley? You were trying to go down the same path as the Eldian Empire, weren't you? Did your heart not hurt?" He asked him, his voice laced with sarcasm.

"It's a lie. Your history is all a lie." Grisha told him. "I know the truth. Our ancestor Ymir... used the power of the Titans to cultivate the wastelands, build the roads, and construct bridges between the mountains. She brought wealth to the people of the continent. Marley is distorting history." Grisha claimed.

"Yeah I get it. You have a grand history right?" Gross asked him. "Why don't you talk to your friend down there about it."

"Stop it!" Grisha yelled out as Gross tried to push him over the edge.

"Don't be ridiculous! I want to see you get eaten by a Titan!" Gross yelled at him. "Just promise me you wont die some hackneyed old death, okay?! Show me some new way I've never seen before!" He requested.

"You think this is funny, you bastard?!" Grisha yelled back at him.

"Don't get so upset. I already explained to you that we need this kind of entertainment in our lives, didn't I? Be more positive about it! Hear that?! Your sister's calling you!" He mocked.

"Damn you!" Grisha yelled, only to be pulled back as Kruger shoved Gross off the ledge instead.

"Phew." Kruger stated as the Titan began to eat Gross' face. "What do you think? Are you finding this fun?" He asked as he examined his hat.

"Who... who are you?" Grisha asked him.

"I'm the Owl." Kruger stated, throwing his hat off the wall. "Watch and learn, Grisha." Kruger said as he produced a knife and sliced his palm open. "This is how you use the power of the Titans."

 **A/N- Sorry for cutting it off there but I didn't want to write a 10k plus word chapter and bore you guys to death. But Grisha has decided to entrust his greatest secret to Lucas, I wonder what he'll do about it. The next chapter will probably include the Fall of Shiganshina in some sort if capacity after Grisha finishes and he decides what he should do. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	5. Grisha’s Secret Project

Grisha watched as Kruger jumped off the wall on the ocean side with the Titan body forming around him. Kruger then lifted up the steamship that they had brought on and lifted it onto his back like it was nothing, he then proceeded to break it in half and scatter the remains into the ocean.

"Around _the time the authorities soldiers ran out of ammunition, the Owl, now a Titan, crushed their steam ships into dust which he spread across the ocean." Grisha told Lucas. "It didn't take much longer before it's soldiers were turned into what looked like squeezed and discarded fruit, then thrown into the ocean as well." Grisha told him. "I'll need to explain to you what the ocean is. The ocean is a gigantic body of salt water that occupies 70% of this planets surface."_

 _"The steamships the Marley Public Security Authorities used to take us here, and everything those soldiers carried... every trace that they ever existed here on this Island... had vanished, engulfed into the occean."_

Once Kruger had finished his rampage and exited his Titan form, he climbed back up the staircase and cut Grisha free of the ropes binding his hands together, while he held a tissue to stop the blood dripping from his nose. "So... anything you want to ask me?" Kruger offered.

"I don't know." Grisha responded. "Where do I even start?"

"Sorry, but I don't have that kind of time." Kruger apologised.

"Owl... who are you?" Grisha then asked him, he had to start somewhere.

"My name is Eren Kruger." He responded. "As I just showed you, I hold the power of one of the nine Titans within me. In other words, I am one if the subjects of Ymir, just like you."

"So you pretended to be a Marleyan in order to infiltrate the authorities? But then... what about their blood tests?" Grisha asked.

"You only need a single cooperative doctor to deal with that." Kruger explained. "He too was a subject of Ymir. He had falsified his own medical records to pose as a Marleyan."

"Doctors make good spies." Kruger told him. "They have the appropriate education and social standing. And they have the knowledge needed to study Titan chemistry." He explained further. "Honestly, you did a good job. You led the Restorationists at a young age. And you had a child with Dina Fritz. Even your plan to make Zeke into a Marley soldier. It was a realistic plan, considering the support you would have had from me. But in the end... the results were just as Grice lamented, weren't they?"

"Yes... I was a terrible father... a terrible husband... and a terrible man." Grisha claimed. "So why... why am I the only one left standing here as a human? Dina... she was a subject of Ymir with Royal blood, she was special. She could make full use of the power of the Titans. Wasn't it obvious? Even our Eldian children know that from their Marley history textbooks. If you hadn't suppressed that fact... at the very least. Dina wouldn't have had to come here and be turned into a mindless monster."

"You're right." Kruger confirmed.

"Answer me Owl!" Grisha yelled, grabbing his collar with the remnants of his bandaged hands. "Why am I the only one you kept alive!"

"Stop it." Kruger said. "Think of your fingers."

"Thanks for the consideration." Grisha sarcastically spat at him since he had no fingers left. "Though you don't seem to be quite as concerned when it comes to snipping peoples fingers off." He said to him.

"Tell me! Couldn't you have stopped them from becoming Titan's if you had gone on a rampage with that Titan earlier?" Grisha asked, not caring about his fingers. "Tell me! Why didn't you do anything?!" He demanded. "What purpose did it serve turning the Eldia Restorationists into Titans?!"

"Hey... what's wrong?" Grisha asked as Kruger collapsed onto one knee. "You've been looking pale for a bit now." He observed.

"Not just... our compatriots." Kruger revealed to him. "I cut the fingers off thousands of subjects of Ymir. Thousands... I took them here... and turned them into Titans. Women and children too." He explained. "I believe, I did it all to serve Eldia."

"Anyway... show me." Grisha requested.

"Yes... I know." Kruger responded. "I'm short on time." He repeated. "Grisha... I'm entrusting you with my final mission. You, and not anyone else."

They then both took a seat at the edge of the wall as Kruger began talking again. "That day... when we first met, If I hadn't called out to you and stopped you. You may have been able to save your sister."

"I think it's more likely that I would have been killed alongside her." Grisha conceded.

"It puts me at ease to know you think that." Kruger replied. "But in any case, if that had never happened... you probably would never have hated Marley as much as you do now."

"And... that's why you picked me?" Grisha questioned him.

"It's part of it." He responded. "An enemy state. Yourself. Your father. All the hatred I saw in your eyes, seemed enough to reduce this whole world to ash."

"I was once that way too." He revealed. "The remnants of the Royal Family that stayed on the continent formed a revolutionary army, and my father had joined. But the army wasn't able to do a thing. All of them, including their familes were burned alive." He explained their fate to Grisha. "As a child, all I could do was watch from a crack in the closet as it happened. I was too scared to do anything else. My father's friends saved me just before my home burned down... after that, I swore to get revenge on Marley and restore Eldia."

"But what that really involved was taking fingers from the hands of the compatriots I needed to be protecting... at times even skinning them. Then kicking them down from here as I turned them into Titans." He said to Grisha. "My full devotion to that, is what kept my identity from being revealed until today."

"Maybe I'm still the same as then." He said sadly. "I'm just looking into the world from a crack in the closet door."

"Tell me Owl." Grisha began. "What is this mission that you've left me?"

"Enter into the walls, and take back the Founding Titan." Kruger told him. "Using the power of the Titan, you will inherit from me."

"What?" Grisha asked. "Then, that means-"

"You'll become a Titan and I'll be eaten by you." Kruger confirmed for him. "It's impossible to reach the wall without the power of the Titans. And do the same to take the power of the Founding Titan from its owner."

"Why don't you do it?" Grisha asked him.

"I haven't told you everything I know. Because my goal was to raise the morale of the Restorationists. Whoever inherits the power of the nine Titans. Will die in thirteen years." He explained to him. "And I inherited it thirteen years ago."

"If you had known that. You surely would have hesitated when it came to plans of having Zeke or Dina inherit the Founding Titan's powers." Kruger stated.

" _The Owl called it, the curse of Ymir." Grisha told Lucas who looked ready to murder Grisha now but was holding back. "It's because they say Ymir, the Originator, died thirteen years after first awakening to her powers. No one can have power that is greater than hers. So when you approach that time, your body begins to weaken... as the vessel finishes serving it's purpose." He explained to Lucas._

 _"If someone who holds the power of one of the nine Titan's without anyone inheriting that power... then the power if that Titan is then suddenly inherited by a baby belonging to the subjects of Ymir. Distance plays no factor in this at all, neither does blood relations." Grisha explained to him. "So you can't help but think that maybe... the subjects of Ymir are all connected by something invisible. One successor said they saw paths. Paths invisible to the eyes."_

 _"The blood and bones that formed a Titan were sent to them through those paths. At times, memories and some outside will came to them through paths as well. And all of those paths cross at a single coordinate. In other words, that... is the Founding Titan."_

"All Titans, all subjects of Ymir are connected to that coordinate." Kruger explained to Grisha. "Through "paths" that transcend physical shape. That is the most recent opinion given by the Marley Governments Titan Chemistry Research Society."

"So you're saying that magic exists?" Grisha assumed. "And that our ancestor, Ymir, was a witch all along? So which is it?!" He demanded an answer from the Owl.

"Under Marley rule, she was a pawn of the Devil. During the Eldian Empire's rule, she was a god-given miracle." Grisha summed up the two sides of history. "Were all of those historical documents you sent us nothing more than fuel for our morale too?! So then what is the truth? What is our real history?"

"Our ancestor Ymir, was a girl who came in contact with the source of all organic material." Kruger said. "There are some who say that too." He aded, confusing Grisha, which prompted him to elaborate. "There is no such thing as "truth" in this world. That is our reality. Anyone can become a god or a devil. As long as others support them verbally." He explained.

"They say we've been practicing ethnic cleansing for 1700 years. What a joke. There wouldn't be a single strand of Marleyan hair left on this earth if that was true." Kruger said. "You say our ancestor Ymir had never done anything wrong, and only brought wealth and fortune to the world. That can't be true either. I know humans, and there's no way a human being could be that perfect."

"And the one who stated that "Dina is of Royal Blood" was also you." Grisha told him. "Was that another one of your truths? That's why you left her to die." He summed up.

"Unfortunately." Kruger started. "Dina having Royal Blood was a fact, she was the only thing the Revolutionary Army didn't have taken from them."

"Then why?!" Grisha demanded.

"It's because she was of Royal Blood." Kruger explained. "I had to prevent the enemy from getting their hands on her. Zeke is telling the Marleyans everything. It's only a matter of time until they realise he's not just babbling childish nonsense."

"Still..." Grisha started only to have Kruger cut him off.

"Still what?" Kruger asked. "Still try and leave her alive so that the Marley Government could force her to bear them child after child for the rest of her life? Would that have been better?" He rhetorically asked. "Actually, to be honest, I'm not sure that's a better fate than being turned into a man eating monster. Not that I got the chance to ask her preference."

"But considering the alternative... I think I made the right choice." Kruger mused. "As to why I didn't save the rest of our countrymen. The reason for that is simple, I didn't have enough power for all of them. From here on only one will come out alive and make it to the wall, and that'll be the person who holds the power of the Titan. I carried out my duty. It's time you carry out yours."

"To be frank, I don't even think I can." Grisha dejectedly responded. "All I ever acomplished was destroying the Restoration movement you worked so hard to create."

"You will do it." Kruger told him.

"Look down there." Grisha gestured to the corpse of Gross. "The guy who got kicks from feeding my sister to the dogs, just died getting eaten by a Titan." Grisha pointed out the irony in that. "I got my revenge. I wanted nothing more than this. You asked if I found it amusing. I did not." Grisha told him.

"Just listening to him die in such agony was revolting." Grisha seemed disgusted now. "Watching you kill your men was just as disgusting. I was just... afraid, that's all." Grisha then stared at the bloody bandages that housed the stumps where his fingers used to be. "I didn't... know any of this would happen... I didn't know that I'd lose my friends. That I'd lose my son and my wife. Or that I'd have to suffer the pain of having my fingers chopped off."

"If I had known that's the price I'd have to pay for freedom... I would not have paid it." Grisha said to Kruger. "I'm sorry, but you're betting on the wrong horse." He apologised. "Forgive me... but I just don't have anything to hate anymore."

"Your father... was a smart man." Kruger suddenly said. "Even though his daughter was killed and the Public Security Authorities didn't even bother to look into the matter, he still went out of his way to fawn over them. He tried his best to think of a way to keep the rest of his family alive, and struggled hard to keep you in line. But his son learned nothing, and led his own son and wife straight to the gates of hell."

"What are you trying to say?" Grisha asked him, confused at what Kruger was getting at.

"Stand up." Kruger ordered as he stood up. "Fight." Seeing that Grisha just sat there, he continued. "I already told you Grisha Yeager, we don't have much time. There's still some information I need to tell you."

"Then you should have started off with that." Grisha retorted.

"I need you to take a vow first." Kruger told him. "Vow that you would risk your life and fight yet again, In order to restore Eldia's freedom an honour." He requested. "If you are willing to swear, then stand up." He commanded.

"I'm... already..." Grisha looked at the floor, unable to look Kruger in the eyes.

"Look." Kruger requested, holding out a photo of him, Dina and Zeke. "I took this from your house."

"I can't look." Grisha said as he refused to look at the picture. "I can't look." He repeated. "Can't stand, and can't fight."

"Don't have the balls for it, do you?" Kruger asked him. "Did the Marleyans cut those off too?"

"If you are trying to make me remember my hatred, don't bother, it's useless." Grisha told him. "All I have left... are my sins."

"Those will do." Kruger said to the downed Grisha. "I didn't choose you for this mission because you hated Marley more than the others. I chose you because on that day, you went outside the walls." Kruger explained.

"If you hadn't brought your sister along and hadn't left those walls that day. You would have quietly succeeded your fathers clinic. You would have never met Dina. And Zeke would have never been born. And your sister would have the chance to grow up and marry by now, and would have had children of her own." Kruger listed off the "what if's".

"But you left the walls." He pointed out the obvious to him. "We seek freedom, and for that our countrymen paid a hefty price. There's only one way we could possibly repay that debt. Starting the day I started kicking my brethren off to their deaths, and starting from the day you brought your sister outside those walls. We've had to keep moving forward, and we will continue forward until the day we repent for those deeds. Even if we die, even after we die. This story, is one that you started." Kruger told him.

Grisha then stood up, clutching the picture to his chest, to which Kruger smiled at him.

"Each one of the nine Titans have their own names." Kruger told him. "The one I'm about to give you has a name too. This Titan has always continued to pursue freedom, no matter the place or era. He has always fought for the sake of freedom. And his name is, the Attack Titan."

"If the Marleyans get their hands on the power of the Founding Titan, they won't need the Eldians that are living in the ghetto anymore." Kruger explained. "And it'll be over for both the Eldians living on this Island and the continent."

"What Gross said was true." Kruger continued. "The Eldians have been using pure Titans as cheap weapons of destruction since time immemorial. You can't give them any complex orders if they're not being controlled by the Founding Titan. However, once they're released, they become fearless, automatic killing machines. Currently they act as a kind of cage on this Island, making sure that Eldians can't freely venture past the walls."

Grisha sensed there was a "but" coming along.

"But there's so many of them now that it's gotten out of hand. Now Marleyans can't come to this Island carelessly, either." Kruger explained the problem that Marley had created for themselves. "The Marleyans plan was to use the Eldians they kept alive as "pure Titans" to be added to their military forces. That's why they spared so many Eldians and let them live in the ghetto in the first place."

"But of course, not everyone in Marley thought that was a good idea." Kruger admitted. "The majority held the opinion that even as a weapon we're too hard to control, and that it's just better to kill us off."

"Marley has been able to put aside that debate for now." Kruger assured him. "But either way, eventually they'll be coming here to take over the resources this island has to offer. And in order to develop this island as they please, they'll need to get rid of the pure Titans that might get in their way. If they manage to get the power of the Founding Titan from the King of the Walls, the debate over the existance of the Eldians will surely restart. Use us as a military power, or exterminate us. Marley will have to choose."

"The King of the Walls won't allow that to happen, would he?" Grisha asked in response.

"The King won't fight." Kruger said, shocking Grisha. "If Eldia wishes to set ablaze the world once more, we will go into ruin." Kruger quoted the King. "It would be useless to try and take the Founding Titan from us, since both he and us have taken an oath to renounce all war."

"These are the last words King Fritz, the 145th King had sent the Royal Family that was left on the continent before closing the walls gates." Kruger told Grisha.

"Didn't he also say 'the Titans within the walls shall flatten and lay fury to the world?'" Grisha asked.

"It would seem that as long as that threat was enough to deter Marley from attacking, it had bought us a short time of peace." Kruger elaborated for him. "But with his lack of action, the King of the Walls is allowing the destruction of Eldia, and he's taking his own people down with it. The King of the Walls is erasing his people's memories away." Kruger revealed. "He makes them think that all humanity outside the walls has perished. He's surrounded himself with the subjects he has fooled. And goes on about them all living in Utopia. I dont know what this "oath to renounce war" really is. But a King unwilling to protect his own people is no true King. You must find out if he's not just some imposter pretending to be a Fritz."

"You should get a family." Kruger suggested as he began drawing the Titan spinal fluid needed to transfer the powers. "You need to get yourself a new identity once you get inside the walls."

"What are you talking about?" Grisha asked him. "I have Dina... besides, once you become a Titan you lose all your previous memories, don't you?"

"There are exceptions." Kruger admitted. "Someone might be watching you afterwards." He said. "Be it a wife, kids, the townsfolk even, find someone to love inside those walls Grisha." The told him what he had to do. "If you won't, it'll just repeat itself all over again. The same history, the same mistakes. Forever."

"If you want to save Mikasa and Armin, and everyone else. You must trust the Corporal to help you finish your mission."

"Mikasa? Armin? The Corporal?" Grisha questioned, not knowing anyone by that name or title. "Who are they?"

"... I don't know." Kruger admitted as he looked off into the distance. "Whose memories are these I wonder?"

(Present time)

"This is everything you need to tell me?" Lucas calmly asked Grisha once he had finished telling his story.

"Yes." Grisha confirmed. "I wrote all of it down in these three books when I decided that I would tell you the truth." He explained what the books were for. "I thought you might go straight to Erwin with this information, so I decided to make it easier for you."

"How thoughtful of you." Lucas sarcastically remarked. "Tell me Grisha, if I hadn't asked you to take in Mikasa and my mom, would you have even told me any of this?"

"I didn't ever think that I would be telling someone this story. I thought I would have had to write it down for someone to read." Grisha admitted. "But considering you are the only Corporal that I know, the only other person coming close would be Hannes. I had to tell you, even if you told everyone about it."

"Let me get one thing clear first." Lucas requested. "From what I've heard over the past two hours, you're telling me that I've spent the last three years running around... killing humans?"

"Putting them out of their misery would probably be more accurate Lucas." Grisha corrected them. "It's a living nightmare that goes on forever for some of them. Since there's only nine Titan powers, you can't save them, no matter how much you may want to."

"Yes, because that makes me feel so much better about myself." He spat at him. "You're lucky I don't have my ODM gear with me, othwise I would have cut your arm off to see if it would grow back." He sneered at him.

"Lucas, I understand that you're angry, furious even. But threatening to cut something off that will grow back will get us nowhere." Grisha said firmly. "What we need to do is come up with a plan to take back the Founding Titan."

"Who the fuck said I was going to help you?" He rhetorically asked him. "As far as I'm concerned, you're just an Eldian fanatic who just wants to eat some poor soul just because you think they won't do anything."

"I need your help." Grisha stated. "I need you to help take the King down if he decides to transform to defend himself. Fighting me doesn't translate to war, so it's a possibility that he may be able to fight back."

"You were going to give it to Eren, weren't you?" Lucas accused. "You're running out of time, that's why you're making a move now." Lucas correctly guessed.

"So what if I was?" Grisha countered. "It's my power, I'll decide who inherits it. Anyway, I don't know of anyone else who would want to shoulder the responsibility of the Eldian race."

"I'll do it." Lucas offered. "Once you eat that poor bastard who has the Founding Titan, I'll inherit your power. It'll save Eren from dying before twenty five anyway."

"If only things were that simple Lucas." Grisha chuckled to himself. "You aren't like me Lucas, you're not a subject of Ymir." He revealed. "Your mother is an Oriental, while your father is an Ackerman." He pointed out. "Both of those families do not have the blood of Ymir running through them, so you can't inherit my power, or any Titan power in fact. Instead you have your inhuman strength, plus the ODM gear you use as a Scout means that you would have a great advantage over a Titan shifter like myself, even the Founding Titan, that's why I need your help."

"I'll help you one one condition." Lucas told him. "I will take these books with me just now. I won't talk to anyone about this before the expedition, only after." He said as he put the three books into his inside jacket pocket. "Once you finish eating that unlucky fucker, you will meet with Erwin and others that I trust and tell them what you told me."

"Deal." Grisha agreed, despite that he had technically used two conditions by taking the books as well.

"Good." Lucas got up from his seat. "Oh, and since you've been fucking the Scouts for years by keeping this a secret." Lucas then punched Grisha square on the nose, destroying the cartilage and bones with the raw power of his punch, causing it to erupt with blood going everywhere. "Consider that a little payback."

(A few days later)

Eren and Mikasa had been collecting firewood like Carla had kindly asked them to so that they could keep the fire lit for a few days, hey had also met Mr Hannes on the way back, a Garrison soldier who spent his days playing cards and drinking. After a short conversation where Eren had scolded Hannes for drinking on the job, saying that he wouldn't be able to fight while he was so light on his feet, he had left with Mikasa after that and were now walking further into town.

"Eren, you should let the whole Scout Regiment thing go." Mikasa spoke up as they were walking up a hill, which cause him to gasp in shock.

"Seriously?" He asked. "Your brother is a Scout Mikasa." He reminded her. "Why does everyone think of them as a joke?"

"What my brother does isn't really your concern, and what people think about them really isn't the issue." She retorted as the church bells started ringing in the distance.

"Perfect timing!" Eren exclaimed as they reached the top of the hill. "They're back, we can make it if we hurry." He then grabbed Mikasa's hand. "Get a move on, we'll get to see your brother." He said as he ran off, pulling her along with him.

"Yeah, hopefully." Mikasa whispered to herself, he may have came back from every other expedition, but all it takes is one mistake to make sure he would never come back.

Once they arrived, they were stuck behing the much taller crowd. "Can't see squat." Eren stated, before spotting some boxes he and Mikasa could stand on to see over the crowd.

Lucas was riding behind Erwin and to his right, so when Erwin looked at thd crowd amd then turned away, he looked over to see that Eren was smiling at Erwin with Mikasa next to him.

"He's obsessed with the world outside the Walls." Lucas spoke up so that only Erwin could hear him. "Much like you are, but instead he wants to explore instead of finding out in there's any truth to your father's theory."

"Is that so?" Erwin quietly responded. "The girl, that was Mikasa, wasn't it?"

"It was." He confirmed. "But she seems unnaturally attached to him. But I'm sure you don't want to hear about my plans to grind his bones into dust if he hurts her, especially since we have less that twenty soldiers now."

"We'll just have to rebuild." Erwin stated. "And you'll have to visit Miss Reiss again, you think you can get her to convince her father to side with the Corps?"

"That fat bastard is shit scared of Frieda." Lucas snorted. "I'm surprised his body is able to support his own weight given the fact he seems to lack a spine. But to answer your question, we'll just have to see what kind of mood she's in."

"Moses! Moses!" A voice cried out, an elderly woman stepped out of the crowd and stopped infront of Shadis. "Beg your pardon. Where is my son?" She asked. "He should be with you all. Oh please tell me he made it." She pleaded as she grabbed onto his cloak.

"I wish I had better news." Shadis grimaced as he turned to the Scout next to him. "Give it to her." He ordered.

The Scout then handed her a bloody piece of cloth that was wrapped around something. She opened it only to see that an arm was wrapped up, she then broke down into tears at the sight of what was presumably her son's arm.

"I'm sorry." Shadis apologised to her. "That's all that was left of him." He said as she fell to her knees, clutching the arm to her chest as she continued to cry her eyes out.

Shadis then took a knee infront of her as she began to talk to him. "He... He did good yes? He was brave? Tell me my son stood his ground to the bitter end. That his death meant something! Tell me his sacrifice gave us a better chance!" She yelled at Shadis, who was stunned by her outburst.

"He was brave!" Shadid responded, but then seemed to falter. "But... his sacrifice meant nothing. So with all our losses, it's ever the same." He then closed his eyes, unable to look at her. "Today was lost! We have... nothing!" He yelled out. "Your son died because I sent him to his death! I sent all of them to their deaths!" Shadis was crying in the middle of the street now. "And theres nothing to show for it! All of it amounts to nothing."

"Hey Erwin." Lucas spoke up after Shadis had finished his rant. "You mind if I disappear for a few hours?"

"Go ahead, be with your sister and mother." Erwin told him. "I'd suggest being back at base by morning, you'll need to travel to Sina and see Miss Reiss soon given this disaster of an expedition."

"You don't have to make it sound like I'm going to die tomorrow Erwin." Lucas deadpanned. "Take my horse, I'll just steal a horse from the Garrison stables later." He said as he handed Erwin the reigns and jumped off his horse so that he could find Mikasa, and Eren by proxy.

He had a good idea of where they were given that he had just seen them, but some civilians that were talking shit about the Scouts got on his nerves a bit.

"Uplifting huh?" One sarcastically asked the other.

"Oh sure." He sarcastically responded. "Nothing like seeing our hard earned taxes on keeping those bastards fat and happy on human gristle."

He was then hit on the head with a stick by Eren while Lucas scoffed to himself at the boys stupidity.

"You little punk!" The man growled out as Eren raised the stick again, ready to defend himself, only to be dragged around the corner by Mikasa who kept dragging him off.

"What are you doing?" Eren cried out to Mikasa. "Let me go!" He protested.

"Yeah that's right! You better run!" The man yelled down the alley to them, only to get knocked flat on the floor by an annoyed Lucas who kept going after Mikasa and Eren, ignoring the man that was yelling behind him.

"Alright I get it!" Eren yelled out. "Stop already!" He protested further, only to be flung into a wall by Mikasa, causing him to drop all the wood he had collected.

"Great! Firewood everywhere. Perfect!" He complained.

"So... are you still bound and determined to become one of them, the Scouts." Mikasa asked him. "And don't use my brother's life choices for your own use." She warned.

Eren looked at her, then looked away as he realised there was no point in arguing with her. "Just... help me pick these up." He sighed.

"Like there was much to begin with." Mikasa lightly teased him.

"Why must you always be such a brat Eren?" Lucas asked as he walked up to them while they were picking up sticks. "I get that you don't like being stuck inside these walls, but you do realise that they're the only thing standing in between you and the stomach of a Titan, right?"

"Or are you one of those people that think that just because a soldier has went through three years of training, that they're actually able to kill a Titan?" He asked before Eren could speak. "Contrary to popular belief, cutting a sandbag from the back of a wooden cutout of a Titan, is a bit easier than doing the real thing. You would do well to remember that." He told Eren.

"Come on." He gestured seeing that Eren's mouth was hung open. "I need to talk to Grisha anyway." He said as he walked off in the direction of their house, with Mikasa and Eren following close behind, but silently.

"Hey, we're home." Eren announced as he walked into the door, followed by Mikasa and Lucas.

"Welcome back kids." Carla greeted them as she turned around from the soup she was making. "Hello Lucas." She said as she noticed him. "How are you?"

"If you take into consideration that seventy percent of our forces were eaten earlier today." Lucas bluntly stated. "I'd say I'm just fine." He said, sitting next to his mother who was sat at the table with Grisha.

"Don't mind him Carla." His mother defended him. "He's usually like this when he gets back from an expedition."

"Right." Carla replied, but then noticed that Lucas was still wearing his ODM gear, which still had two pairs of blades left over. "Must you bring that weapon in here Lucas?" She asked him.

"I'd rather not leave it at the door for somebody to steal." He responded. "ODM gear is worth a lot on the black market, only military personal are authorised to have them."

"Still though." Carla complained as she walked over to Eren who was dumping the firewood into a wooden box. "Wow! Somebody worked hard to keep us in fuel for the next several days."

"Whatever." Eren sighed, not looking at her, only to feel Carla pinching his ear. "What was that for?"

"Your earlobe's red." She told him, knowing that he was hiding something. "Which means you've got something to hide. Mikasa helped you again now, didn't she?" She asked, to which Eren only grumbled in response.

Some time later Eren was eating his soup that Carla had prepared while Grisha was getting his things ready so that he and Lucas could take back the power of the Founding Titan.

"Hey, where you off to dad?" Eren casually asked while eating his soup. "A patient?" He guessed.

"Yes, some folks in the interior." Grisha confirmed for him. "I should be back in about a week or so." He told them before he talked to Lucas. "Lucas, I know that losing comrades is hard for you, so if you ever need to pray, I know of a chapel to the north east of Orvud District. I've met some folks that have been there, they say it's... special."

"I'll be sure to think about it." Lucas deadpanned, knowing that was where he was supposed to meet Grisha later tonight if things went well.

"So uh, Eren's thinking about joining the Scouts." Mikasa spoke up all of a sudden, shocking Carla and interesting Grisha while Lucas and his mother remained indifferent to it.

"Way to keep a secret, mouth!" Eren slammed his spoon and plate on the table while Carla rushed over to him.

"Get that ridiculous thought out of your head this instant young man!" She scolded, grabbing him by the shoulders. "No son of mine is going to be fodder! Do I make myself absolutely clear?"

"Stop yelling at me!" Eren yelled back at his mother.

"Don't you dare-"

"It's a nightmare Eren." Grisha spoke up. "The outside, you really have no idea."

"Yeah, I get it okay." Eren responded. "But it's gotta be better than this life."

"Tell me Eren." Lucas spoke up. "Why do you think that fighting for your life every second spent outside the walls is better than living within the walls, safe from harm?"

"Because out there we're not trapped." Eren responded. "We're not caged like cattle, you're free to fly, and see everything that life would be like outside the walls. That's what I want, not to be trapped like birds in a cage."

"I see." Grisha said, listening intently to what Eren was saying. "Excuse me, I'll be late for the fare." He said as he stood up from the table.

"Darling wait!" Carla protested. "Scold the boy for heavens sake!" She rushed over to him.

"Scold him?" Grisha questioned. "Dear please, think this through." He requested. "Mere words won't hold back the boy's curiosity."

"Eren." Grisha turned to face him. "Behave while I'm gone, and I'll let you in on what I've been doing in the cellar with Lucas." He showed him a key that was wrapped around his neck. "Agreed?"

"Yes Sir, you got it." Eren responded, excited to know what his father and Lucas had been doing together.

"Have a good trip!" Eren yelled as Grisha was leaving for the interior.

"I meant what I said." Carla told him.

"What?" Eren asked, confused at what she meant.

"The whole idea is just irresponsible." She stated.

"Huh? Irresponsible?! So what, it's more grown up to settle for living in fear behind some stupid wall your whole pointless life?! At least Lucas doesn't think that!" He yelled as he ran off to somewhere else.

"Eren!" Carla yelled at him, before turning to Mikasa. "Mikasa, the boy needs to be protected from himself. Promise me that whatever happens, I can count on you to have his back."

Mikasa nodded and went after Eren, while Carla went back inside to question the only person she knew that could have filled Eren's head with that fantasy of the outside world.

"Did you fill my son's head with that fantasy about the outside world?!" She demanded as she slammed her hands on the table, with Lucas spilling his tea on his jacket sleeve at the sudden movement of the table.

"I'll need to get this cleaned now." Lucas stated as he looked at the sleeve. "It's going to leave a stain if I don't."

"I don't care about your jacket!" Carla yelled at him. "I care about my son's wellbeing! And now he wants to join the Scouts!"

"I should just have that midget clean freak wash it for me." Lucas seemingly ignored what Carla was saying. "I'm sure he wouldn't mind, he does have a fetish for cleaning after all."

"Tell me!" She demanded an answer. "Did you? Or didn't you?"

"Would you believe me if I said no?" He asked, finally meeting her gaze as she faltered a bit at his stare. "Because from the way you're asking, it sounds like you wouldn't, so what's the point in asking if you've already pinned the blame on me?"

"I'm sorry Lucas." She apologised. "It was wrong of me to snap at you like that. I just don't want Eren to throw his life away outside the walls."

"Tch, don't apologise to me." Lucas scoffed. "You were just being concerned about your child, but I don't really appreciate you dragging Mikasa into his problems."

"It seems like she would follow him anyway." Carla giggled, her attitude doing a complete one-eighty. "They're just so cute together. Don't you think so Lucas?" She asked him.

"I think it's revolting that you would encourage that type of behaviour at their age." He stated. "It's bad enough I have to deal with my mother constantly asking for grandchildren, but now I have to deal with innuendos from you about my sister fraternising with a brat like Eren." He complanied.

"Well maybe if you got yourself a girlfriend we wouldn't tease you all the time." Carla laughed out.

"Didn't you hear Carla? Lucas does have a girlfriend." His mother excitedly said. "He likes to think that I don't know about her."

"Who is it?" Carla asked. "Is it someone in the military?"

"No." She replied. "For the past year he's been meeting with the daughter of a noble once a week." She told her. "He tells me that he only does it to keep the Scouts funded, but as his mother, I know that if he didn't want to go, he wouldn't."

"Now I really wish I was one of those casualties today." Lucas deadpanned. "I'd rather talk to a Titan than endure this."

"We're only teasing Lucas." His mother playfully said. "But I still want to have grandchildren in the next few years, so you better get a move on. Playing hard to get may work for some time, but eventually a woman will lose interest if you play impossible to get."

"I'm not playing hard to get." Lucas responded. "It's more like I don't want to get with her."

"You can deny it all you want dear." His mother chided. "But I can tell when my children take a liking to someone. Call it... mother's instinct."

Lucas was about to reply, but a very large explosion that shook the house and a bright light coming through the window stopped him.

"Both of you outside, now!"

 **A/N- Sorry there was no fall in this part, but it will be in the next part, along with Lucas and Grisha attempting to take back the Founding Titan, I wonder what will happen. Lucas hasn't told the Scouts anything yet, He wants Grisha to explain it to them, mainly because he doesn't want the hassle of dealing with Erwin's questions. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	6. The Fall of Shiganshina

"Both of you outside, now!" Lucas ordered the two women in the house with him as he threw the door open, almost pulling the handle off in the process.

Once he was outside he looked at the direction of the outer gate, which was where he felt the explosion originate from, only to see a massive, skinless hand on top of the wall.

"You've gotta be shitting me!" Lucas yelled out, drawing a blade onto his right handle. "That better not be what I think it is!"

He was proved right as a Titan stuck it's head above the wall, about sixty metres tall as only it's head and hand was visible.

"Lucas, what's going on..." His mother trailed off as she followed his gaze to the top of the wall, staring wide eyed at the Titan that lookee like it could destroy the wall. "Lucas... what do we do?" She asked.

"Head for the inner gate." He told her. "I'll find Mikasa and Eren, do not stop for anything or anyone." He looked back to her, only to see that Carla wasn't there. "Where's Carla?"

"What's with all the commotion outside!" Carla called out from inside the door. "Aren't they just firing the cannons again?"

"Carla! You need to get outside..." He then felt another rumbling as the Colossal Titan reared it's foot back, and smashed the outer gate open, sending a large chunk of rock flying straight at them. "Get down now!" He yelled as he saw it, grabbing his mother and forcing her to her knees, with Lucas using himself as a shield to block any rocks amd debris from hitting her.

He felt small pieces of rock and wood hit his back and arms, but none doing enough damage for it to be permanent, only light scratches along his upper back since his lower back was protected by his ODM gear, once he looked up after the onslaught of flying rocks stopped, he looked over to the house to see that Carla was trapped underneath a pillar.

"Carla, stay still." He ordered her as he rushed over to her, but before he did anything he looked back to his mother. "You need to get to the evacuation ships, I'll get Carla, Eren and Mikasa all there soon."

"Don't waste time trying to free me Lucas!" Carla interrupted him. "There's no way you'll be able to lift the beam off me!" She tried to make him leave her. "Please find Eren and Mikasa, take your mother with you."

"I'm not leaving you here Carla." Lucas replied. "Mom, if you're not going to leave, you could at least help me with this." He suggested as he put the blades away and put his hands under the beam that Carla was trapped under.

"You don't need to save me!" She protested as he prepared to lift, with his mother silently getting ready to help as well. "Your mother isn't trapped, you can take her and find Eren and Mikasa, you can save them."

"Shut up Carla." He said. "If you don't then I'll shave your hair off when we get to safety."

"Don't waste your time trying to save me because you think it'll keep Mikasa happy because I took her in when she and your mother had nowhere to go!" She said, prompting him to look down at her.

"Is that what you really think?" He asked, stopping his attempt to lift the beam. "You think that I'm risking my mothers and my own life trying to save you while Titans are probably pouring into the district... because I have some sort of obligation so that I can please Mikasa?" He asked, shocked that she would think so low of him.

"Lucas, I'm sure she didn't mean it like that." His mother interrupted him. "Now come on, we need to lift this."

"It's exactly what she meant." He coldly replied. "And if you think that I would actually leave someone who has done so much for my family, then you've got another thing coming Carla." He said to her. "I am going to lift this and carry you to the boats if I have to. Now get ready to crawl out."

"MOM!" Lucas heard a screech from down the street behind him. "MOM!" It turned out to be Eren who was followed by Mikasa as they came running towards their house.

"Why the fuck are you two here?!" Lucas yelled at them. "Mom, take them to the evacuation boats." He ordered. "I've got Carla."

"No way!" Eren protested. "I'm going to help you! Whether you want it or not!"

"Lucas, please take Eren and Mikasa with you. They're inside the walls." Carla protested, referring to the Titans. "You have to take them."

Lucas looked down the street after hearing and feeling the footsteps of an incoming Titan. He saw one with blonde hair and a permanent smile etched across it's face slowly making it's way towards him.

"Dina." He whispered, the Titan was basically a match to how Grisha had described her Pure Titan form. "Fuck! This day couldn't get any worse, could it?" He asked. "If you're not going to leave, the least you could do is pull her out when I lift it. Ready?" He asked.

Lucas then used all the strength he had to lift the pillar, managing to lift it off of Carla so that they could pull her out.

"She won't budge!" Eren yelled. "She's stuck there!"

"My legs have been crushed." Carla told them. "Even if you could get me out of here I can't run, there's no time."

"Whatever, we can carry you!" Eren yelled back at his mother, with tears welling up in his eyes.

"Will you just shut up and listen to me for once in your life!" She yelled back at him, tears in her eyes too. "One thing I'm asking you. One thing! Mikasa, Lucas, make him!" She pleaded with them, seeing that they wouldn't stop she spoke up once again. "You want all five of us to die."

She was cut off by the sound of ODM gear coming in, with Hannes landing a few feet away from them.

"Hannes!" She cried out as he came towards them. "Take the children and get them out of here!" She pleaded with him.

"Come on Carla, that's not our only option." He smugly replied before turning serious. "Hey, I'm a trained soldier, my skill set is killing Titans and saving lives." He announced as he ran off down the street to face Dina's Titan form.

"No wait!" Carla protested as he ran off. "Don't do this! Please!"

" _Nothing fancy, just take it down."_ Hannes thought to himself as he advanced towatds the Titan. " _Get all five of them out of harms way. Make good on the debt you owe!"_ He then stopped as he got a good look at the Titan up close and realised that he was terrified, so he turned back to the house and started running back.

Once he got back he picked up Eren and started dragging Lucas' mother who in turn dragged Mikasa with her, only leaving Lucas and Carla behind.

"No! We can't just leave her!" Eren yelled as he reached out to her.

"I love you, you hear me! Stay alive!" Carla yelled back to him as Lucas gently lowered the pillar as to not crush her spine with it.

"I'm sorry Carla." He apologised. "But there's nothing I can do for you now. But I'll make sure that brat survives, it's the least I can do." He said, activating his ODM gear and taking off towards another building.

"Thank you Lucas." She whispered as her only hope left disappeared from sight. "Don't leave me." She whispered to herself as she began fully crying as the Titan had stopped directly behind the wreckage of their house.

The Titan bent down and tossed most of the roof aside with one hand as it had it's sights on Carla, just as it was about to reach down Carla saw something fly past it's eyes, causing it to stand back up and roar while holding it's eyes in pain.

"What just happened?" She questioned, only to see that Lucas was now next to her, throwing the rest of the rubble aside quite easily. "You came back."

"Of course I did." Lucas retorted as he cleared the last of the debris. "You clearly had no faith in me whatsoever." He said as he picked her up in his arms, with her wrapping her arms around his neck as to not fall off. "Hang on." He said as he took off, right as the Titan had recovered and took a swipe at them, barely missing by a couple centimetres.

"It hurts you know." Lucas spoke to her as they moved to catch up with Hannes. "When everyone thinks that your heartless, that I don't care about anyone, I could have two fingers removed from my right hand and still count the number of people who don't believe that I'm heartless on it."

"Lucas... I didn't mean to-"

"I don't blame you for thinking that way Carla." He interrupted her. "Only my mother, Mikasa and... someone else don't believe that I'm heartless. It would be nice if everyone didn't think that, but with the way that I act, I really can't blame them."

"I'm sorry Lucas." She apologised. "I really thought that you had left me back there, but I had accepted it, because you promised you would keep Eren alive, I could have died knowing that he would live because of my sacrifice."

"Tch, don't get all mushy with me." Lucas scoffed at her. "You can get all lovey with Eren when we catch up." He said. "Look, there they are." He pointed out as they landed next to them all.

"Mom!" Eren yelled as he rushed towards Lucas who was still holding her. "You're okay! I saw it! I saw Lucas save you!"

"Her leg is fucked Eren." Lucas stopped him before he made it worse. "You can cuddle with her as much as you want when we reach the boat you ungrateful brat."

"Carla." Hannes whispered as he saw her. "But how... the Titan... your house, you were crushed." He said, not having witnessed what had happened to her.

"Contrary to popular belief Hannes, the Scouts aren't just a waste of taxes." Lucas told him. "Unlike soldiers who waste their day drinking and playing cards, we are actually trained on how to kill or disable a Titan."

"I'm sorry Carla." Hannes apologised. "I was a coward, I couldn't do anything when push came to shove."

"Stop moping Hannes." Lucas interrupted him. "We still have some distance before we reach the boats, and I'd rather not be eaten because you decided to cry about your cowardice in the middle of the street."

"Lucas is right." His mother pointed out. "We need to hurry."

"Right." Hannes stated. "Let's go." He announced, feeling better now since Carla hadn't actually died because of him.

Some time later they had finally arrived at the boats, with Hannes currently arguing with the Garrison officer about getting Eren and Mikasa on the boat while Lucas was shoving through the crowd.

"There's just not enough room left." The officer in charge of the boat stated.

"Then I suggest you make room." Lucas said as he had finally arrived at the front of the line with Carla in his arms. "Unless you'd like to be thrown down there with all the personal belongings." He threatened him.

The officer tried to glare at him, but the other knew who he was so he relented. "Let them through."

"Not you." He held back Lucas and Mikasa's mother. "The boat is already past full capacity, we can't take anymore."

"Hannes, take Carla." Lucas handed her over to him as he stalked over to the officer.

"I'm sorry Sir, but there's no room left." The officer apologised after seeing his face.

"There is room." Lucas growled at him. "Now get out of the way before I actually feed you to a Titan." The officer refused to budge at that. "I said-"

"It's okay Lucas." His mother interrupted him. "I can wait for the next boat. I'll be fine."

"Mom... if they get through Wall Maria... I can't lose you, not after dad." Lucas told her as the plank was raised behind him.

"I'll be fine Lucas." She smiled at him. "With you guarding the gate, I know nothing will get through. I know you'll keep me and Mikasa safe. Always." She said as the boat set off, with people running and jumping across the gap, only to fall into the water.

"I'm not an actual army mom." He replied, but then looked back at the boat. "But I really think you should get on, even if I have to drag you on myself."

Before she could reply they all felt the rumbling of a footstep, but this was different, it was heavier, much heavier and the intervals between them were getting much shorter.

"The gate." Lucas said, realising that it could only be a Titan sprinting for the gate, if Marley could destroy one, then they could surely destroy the other.

He was proved right as a fifteen metre Titan covered head to toe in armour came crashing through the gate, destroying it completely, allowing the Titans free reign inside Wall Maria.

"Thats it." Lucas grabbed his mother by the waist. "You're going on that boat." He said, launching himself at the boat and landing on the roof, gently letting her down where Carla was with Eren and Mikasa, who looked relieved beyond belief when her mother was lowered from the roof by Lucas.

"I'll come find you all when you get to Trost." He told them. "Don't worry about me though, there's something I have to do first." He said as he launched off the boat in search of a horse to take him to the north east side of Wall Rose.

(Wall Rose, North East side)

Grisha was pacing back and forth outside the chapel, waiting for Lucas to arrive. He had heard of the invasion of Shiganshina and could only assume that Marley had sent some of the warriors to aquire the Founding Titan for themselves. He could only hope that Zeke wasn't one of them, otherwise Lucas would probably end up killing him before he knew who it was.

He was also frustrated beyond belief at the time that he was wasting by waiting for Lucas to arrive, he was running out of time and couldn't wait much longer before he just went in by himself. The thought of Carla, Eren, Mikasa and her mother being devoured was in the back of his mind, but he knew Lucas would do everything he could to protect them all, even if he didn't show it at all, Grisha could tell Lucas cared about all of them, especially after Carla and Eren had accepted Mikasa and his mother with open arms.

Fifteen minutes later and Grisha was getting extremely impatient now, he was losing time fast, but he couldn't guarantee his victory without someone who was immune to the powers of the Founding Titan, which Lucas was, so he had to keep his cool and wait for him, hopefully he had just been resupplying his ODM gear for this fight ahead, he would be stupid not to after all, and given how fast he has risen the ranks of the Survey Corps, he was extremly strong and had the intellect to partner his strength.

Another ten minutes had passed now and it was already dark outside, with Grisha having to use a lantern to keep the area lit where he was waiting, hopefully nobody from the chapel was looking outside or they would probably get suspicious, but if Grisha was correct, then all of them would be in the basement, where they carry out the succession process of having an inheritor eat the previous Founding Titan.

Five minutes later and Grisha perked up at the faint sound of a horse galloping in the distance, quickly putting out the lantern in case it was someone else, he waited as the sounds got closer and closer. He couldn't see who it was because it was so dark, but because the moon had illuminated his clothing, he could see the wings if freedom on the chest pocket. Letting out a sigh of relief, Grisha stepped towards Lucas, who was just getting off his horse.

"Lucas!" He called out. "I heard what happened in Shiganshina, but I have to ask, are Eren and Carla okay?" He sounded desperate to know if they were okay.

"They were on the evacuation boat to Trost the last time I saw them." Lucas assured him. "Mikasa and my mother are on it as well. But Carla's leg is quite fucked up, probably fractured if I had to guess, didn't look like a clean break to me."

"That's such a relief." Grisha sighed out. "I assume that it was the warriors that attacked. Did they break the inner gate? Or did they just get through before it could be closed?"

"Both gates were completely destroyed." Lucas revealed the details of what happened to Grisha. "A Titan about sixty metres tall destroyed the outer gate, and a Titan covered in armour destroyed the inner gate as it was closing."

"So... Wall Maria is lost." Grisha summed up. "If it's not a pretender to the throne in there, we can try and convince the King to order the Titans to stop attacking the walls. Then we can regain the land lost earlier today."

"But you'll still eat him right?" Lucas asked Grisha. Seeing him nod in response, he went on. "There's something you should know Grisha. Your wife was trapped under your house, I had to use a Titan to clear most of the rubble before I could get her out of there."

"But you got her out of there." Grisha stated. "So why does it even matter?"

"It matters because the Titan looked a lot like the description you gave me of Dina's pure Titan form." He said, shocking Grisha with that statement. "If she wasn't in danger of being eaten, I might have found it amusing how your first wife almost killed your second wife."

"You have a terrible sense of humour Lucas." Grisha deadpanned at him. "But if that's the case, should you ever come across her again, don't kill her, we need her Royal Blood to fully utilise the Titan power. Without her our chances of defeating the Marleyans are significantly less."

"Tch, it's always about Marleyans with you Grisha, you sure you aren't loyal to them like your first son is." He said, causing Grisha to glare at him. "Who knows, maybe Zeke sold you out just to save his own skin, at the rate you were going, you were about to be sent to Utopia anyway from what you told me."

"You are not funny Lucas." Grisha continued to glare at him. "I'll ignore the fact that you made that joke because of the stressful situation we're in right now, but we need to hurry if we want to catch them off guard. Come on." He said as he started walking in the direction of the chapel that was about a hundred metres away.

"That wasn't meant to be a joke." Lucas said to himself. "Just an observation." He said as he followed Grisha towards and inside the chapel.

"You know." Lucas started as they entered the chapel, noticing that it was very basic. "I'm not gonna lie, I kinda thought the chapel would be lined with gold given that the supposed true Royal Family resides here."

"This Island may be rich with natural resources Lucas, but even that would be a complete waste of money." Grisha pointed out.

"It also seems like nobody's home." Lucas pointed out in return. "The place is empty, are you sure we have the right place?"

"It's meant to be discreet Lucas." Grisha explained to him. "If I'm right, this is where they carry out the succession process, there should be a hatch leading to a basement of some sorts. See if you can find it."

"This chapel isn't exactly small Grisha." Lucas pointed out. "It could take us a while to find anything that remotely resembles a basement door."

"Stop being pessimistic Lucas." Grisha scolded him. "I'm surprised you got anywhere in life with that attitude."

"I'm not being pessimistic, I'm being realistic." He emphasised. "Being realistic is exactly why I was made Corporal at seventeen."

"Can you quit arguing and find the damn door!" Grisha snapped at him. "If we don't hurry there could be guards on the way, or even worse, they could slip away from right under our noses!"

"You're losing it old man." Lucas told him. "Either you get a grip now, or I'm walking out right now. Or better yet, maybe I'll side with the King, that's bound to get me into his good books."

"Be quiet and help me search the place." Grisha ordered him. "You search the stand, I'll search the pews."

"Why don't you just look under the carpet Grisha." Lucas sarcastically suggested. "I'm sure they hid it there."

"I found it." Grisha announced after a few minutes of searching. "It's locked." He said after trying to pull it open. "Do you mind?" He gestured to the hatch in the floor.

"What? Doesn't being a Titan give you any physical advantages over normal humans?" Lucas asked him.

"From what I've observed, it gives is better senses, stamina and strength than an average human." Grisha explained. "But even then, we don't come close to the near superhuman strength members of the Ackerman family seem to posess. I once read about the Ackerman family being the sword and shield of the Royal Family, but something must have happened to start the hundred year persecution of your family."

"I didn't ask for a history lesson Grisha." Lucas said as he walked over to him. "Stand aside." He ordered, kicking the hatch right next to the lock, causing it to collapse inwards before he reached down and practically tore it out of place. "Ladies first." He jested.

Grisha ignored him and proceded into the basement, only to run into a set of double doors, which were also locked. "You mind?" He gestured to the doors.

"I don't get paid enough to deal with shit like this." Lucas grumbled as he kicked the doors open, causing the lock to break off the inside of the door completely.

"Alright, lets go." Grisha commanded, but as he was moving forward, Lucas walked slower as he looked around the cavern. It was huge, and was held up by massive crystal like pillars, it was definitely not man made, so Lucas assumed that it was the Founding Titan who made this. He had expected some sort of torture device to hold down the previous Founding Titan to stop them from struggling while they were eaten by the inheritor, not something as incredible as this, even he could appreciate the beauty of something like this.

"King of the Walls!" Lucas heard Grisha yell in the distance as he had fallen behind. "Please kill the Titans that are attacking us before everyone inside the walls are devoured!" He heard him plea.

"I'm an Eldian who came from outside these walls." Grisha explained to them. "I'm a subject of Ymir, just like you." He said to them.

"Grisha." Lucas said as he was looking at the roof of the cavern as he walked up to him, having not looked at who Grisha was talking to, still admiring the beauty if the cavern. "Hurry up and eat him already, it doesn't sound like he wants to cooperate..." He trailed off as he looked over to where the holder of the Founding Titan, only to see that it was Frieda and her family standing there.

"Lucas." Frieda said, hurt clear as day in her voice. "You're... helping him try to kill me?" She guessed.

"You know her Lucas?" Grisha asked him.

"I do..." He trailed off. "You never said it was the Reiss family that was the true Royal Family." He growled at him.

"You didn't seem to care at the time." Grisha retorted. "You were just interested in not having to explain what I told you to Erwin."

"That was before you asked me to help kill someone I know!" He yelled back at him. "I do have morals you know! I'm not a heartless killing machine!"

"Lucas, come over here!" Frieda commanded him, interupting his conversation with Grisha. "It's obvious that this man has corrupted you, but I can help you if you come over here. Trust me." She said, her eyes having already gained those purple streaks he was used to earlier when Grisha was talking to her.

Lucas was about to actually take a step towards her before Grisha stuck his arm out, preventing him from moving. "She refuses to use her power Lucas, a ruler who doesn't protect their people had no right to rule. We have to take her power. I'll hold her arms while you cut her tendons, then I'll take her power."

"Lucas, it's clear to me that you're mind has been corrupted by this sinner." She told him. "Once I defeat him, I'll help you become free of his corruption again, then we can be happy together."

"Never mind her Lucas!" Grisha yelled as he raised the knife that was in her hand. "I'll start it off, you have to finish it!" He yelled, stabbing his hand and triggering his transformation, causing Lucas, Frieda and her family to turn away from the steam that was being produced from his Titan body forming.

Grisha's Attack Titan form was different to what Lucas had been expecting, he was expecting sonething similar to how Kruger's Titan form was described, lean with a lot of muscle, but Grisha's was big and bulky, with a beard and some chest hair.

"Don't worry Lucas, I'll save you from this maniac." Frieda said as she bit down on her hand, transforming into a thirteen metre Titan with long black hair, those unusual purple eyes, but this was the first Titan Lucas had seen that had breasts. "Of couse the female shifter has breasts." He sighed to himself as he moved himself out of harms way and over to where the Reiss family were cowering away as Grisha and Frieda battled each other. On some occasions Frieda had asked Lucas for some self defence lessons, so she shouldn't be completely useless against Grisha.

"Why the hell are you just standing there?!" Rod angrily asked as Lucas was observing, deciding on which side to take. "You have your ODM gear, go and help her!"

"Considering the fact that I came here with the intent to help take the Founding Titan away from the King, why should I help her?" He asked. "She won't use it to help humanity, it would be better off with someone who can use the power."

"He hasn't told you anything!" Rod shouted back at him. "Only the true Royal Family can use the power of the Founding Titan, it's useless for anything apart from hand to hand combat with any other bloodline!"

"It's still better than someone who won't use it at all have it." Lucas retorted. "It's strange, she seemed so nice when I first met her, I'm surprised she hasn't used it at all."

"Nobody from the Royal Family can use it." Rod revealed to him. "The will of Karl Fritz to renounce all war prevents any member of the Royal Family freeing us from the Titan's tyrannical rule over us."

"You still haven't given me a reason to help her." Lucas noted. "If anything, the power would be put to better use by someone who would at least engage the pure Titans in unarmed combat."

"I have tried so hard to convince Frieda to stop meeting with you." Rod gritted out. "Can you really not see that she's completely head over heels in love with you? Or are you just toying with her emotions for your own amusement?"

Lucas then turned around to face Rod, he grabbed him by the collar and lifted him clean off the floor with his right hand. "If you think that you can manipulate me into helping her by toying with my emotions then you're sorely mistaken." He growled out at him. "There's no way someone like her could love someone like me, so don't you dare lie about something like that." He tried to deny what he had been seeing from her for a long time.

"It's true!" Rod managed to splutter out as he was being strangled by Lucas. "She won't shut up about you. Ask anyone here."

"What daddy says is true." A blonde haired girl about Mikasa's age told him. "Big sister Frieda talks about you a lot. She says that you care too much for your own good. Daddy once said you were heartless, Frieda nearly hit him with a pan for saying such lies about you."

"You girl. What's your name?" Lucas asked her.

"My name is Florian." She replied. "Please, you have to help her. I don't want her to die, not after Uncle Uri died."

Lucas then dropped Rod to the ground and then stood on his chest. "The power of the Founding Titan is basically useless without the holder being of Royal Blood, correct?"

"Yes." Rod wheezed out. "You have to help her, she doesn't have the experience to use the invincible power properly."

"Shut up when I'm talking to you!" Lucas growled as he pressed his foot harder onto Rod. "Have you tried to undo the will of the first King?"

"Yes, the Reiss family has been trying for generations to undo the brainwashing done by the first King."

"Somehow I doubt that they tried everything." Lucas replied. "I tend to find that a good beating is all it takes for someone to break, and if they can grow things back, that makes the pain even worse because I can do it over and over again."

"You can't do that!" Florian and Rod both protested.

"Relax, I was joking." Lucas replied. "Probably." He muttered. "Fine, I'll help her, only because I think that I can actually help with this whole brainwashing thing." He took his foot off of Rod's chest and drew both his blades for the ODM gear. "Watch and learn kiddo." He said to Florian. "This is how a professional carves up a Titan."

Grisha had finally managed to get the upper hand in the fight, she had some skill, but he managed to over power her, and with one more punch she was unconscious. He was about to bend down until he lost his vision completely.

Grisha flailed his arms around, trying to catch whatever it was that cut his eyes. Lucas however used all the pillars to his advantage as he easily dodged the swings of Grisha's arms and cut the shoulder tendons on the left arm, leaving it immobile for the time being. After that he went after the other arm, easily evading a blind swipe to cut the shoulder tendons of that arm as well.

Lucas made quick work of Grisha's Titan form, targeting the eyes, shoulders, jaw, knees and then ankles, leaving him a steaming mess on the floor next to Frieda. He then proceeded to cut Grisha out of the Titan and throw him away from everyone else that was nervously watching on.

"What the hell are you doing Lucas?!" Grisha yelled at him. "We could have easily defeated her! What happened to not letting your heart make decisions?"

"Leave Grisha." Lucas ordered him. "You're running out of time as it is." He stated. "And from what just happened, you know you can't beat me."

"My mission was to reclaim the Founding Titan for Eldia." Grisha said to him. "What makes you think it'll stop with me?"

"I can help her Grisha." He looked back to Frieda's unconscious Titan form. "Or, at least I think I can."

Grisha left without another word to him, rage clear within his eyes, clearly hurt by Lucas' presumed betrayal against him.

"I'm never gonna hear the end of this." Lucas sighed to himself. "I hope I made the right choice." He muttered as he made his way over to her Titan body, which was surrounded by her family.

"Move. I'll cut her out." He ordered them to stand aside as he used both blades against her nape, glad that Grisha had told him where shifters resided within their Titan forms.

"Ugh, your hair is filthy." He commented as he pulled her out. "Hey! Wake up you lazy shit!" He yelled at her, which caused her to stir awake.

"What... happened?" She asked. "I remember being on the ground... then nothing."

"It would seem that you have gained the loyalty of Corporal Ackerman considering he chose you over that man." Rod said to her, disgust evident in his tone.

Frieda then smiled at Lucas who was trying his best to not cut off her hair, which was filthy since the nape was all steamy and made her all sweaty.

"I knew you would." She told him as she put her hand on his chest. "Your heart is beating faster than it should." She pointed out.

"I just fought a human controlling a Titan's body." He retorted. "Using ODM gear puts a strain on the body, if Rod tried to use it like I do, the force would turn his internal organs to mush. It's no wonder my heart rate has increased."

The other members of her family tried to ask her questions to see if she was alright, but she just ignored them, instead just staring at Lucas, looking like she was thinking of something.

"That might be true." She spoke up. "But I think that there's something else, isn't there?" She asked him. "I can feel it, it's getting even faster now."

"I suggest you take your hand off me before I cut it off." He threatened her once again. "It'll grow back, so you'll be fine."

"You wouldn't do that though." She said. "I can see the concern in your eyes Lucas. I see that you keep looking me over to see if I'm injured in any way." She told him, but he kept a straight face. "I saw it when you taught me to defend myself, even if you weren't aware you were doing it. I know that you care about me Lucas, otherwise you wouldn't have saved me." Her face was slowly getting closer to his now.

"I don't know what you're talking about." He tried to play it off while everyone else silently watched their interaction, knowing better than to interrupt. "I made the logical choice to save you, that is all."

"You can't lie to me Lucas." She softly told him. "I've gotten very good at telling when you're lying and when you're not. So there's no use in doing it to me."

"Come any closer and I'll head butt you into next week." He growled out, seeing that she was even closer than before.

Instead of replying she shot her head forward and closed her eyes, expecting to kiss him on the lips, but instead he managed to turn his head in time so she was only kissing his cheek, which she could swear had turned slightly red.

"Your hair is absolutely filthy." He told her once again. "Once you finish cleaning it, we're going to have a serious talk." He saud as he got off the steaming Titan corpse and headed for the exit.

"I don't know why you persist with that fool Frieda." Rod said to her. "It's quite obvious that he isn't interested in you."

"No father. That's his way of saying we should talk about where we are." She said to him. "He obviously has self confidence issues or something like that, maybe he thinks that he's not good enough for me." She thought out loud. "I'll just have to show him how I really feel about him."

Later that night after Lucas had made sure that Grisha had left, they had went back to the Reiss estate, where Lucas had practically forced Frieda into thr shower, going as far as to turn the water on and shove her in while she was fully clothed, because they were wasting time as it is.

He was currently sitting at the desk in her room with a cup of tea that one of the maids had made for him, by that he meant that the tea was shit compared to what Levi usually made, so he had to make his own after dumping the contents out the window.

It wasn't really surprising to him that Frieda's room wasn't that fancy at all, a queen sized bed in the corner, which he found to be amusing since she was the actual Queen. There was a large mirror at the desk he was sitting at, along with a hairbrush that was surprisingly clean of dead hair considering how straight her hair usually was.

He heard the door open behind him, along with the sounds of bare feet hitting the wooden floor of the room. Looking in the mirror he saw Frieda walk in wearing a plain white nightgown with no sleeves that stopped right above her knees. He also saw the messy state her wet hair was in, so he threw the brush over his shoulder without looking which she caught and sent him a small smile in return.

"I see you took off the harness as well as your actual gear." She commented as she sat on her bed and began to brush her long black hair. "I've never seen you not wear it, why start now?"

"I think I've had enough of that thing for today." He said, looking into his half filled teacup. "Watching two people inside of a Titan body destroy the outer gate and inner gate of Shiganshina kinda made me sick of using it earlier today."

"How much do you know exactly?" She asked, he didn't have to look up to know that her eyes had turned purple.

"Grisha came from the continent, a country called Marley." Lucas replied. "I was given a basic rundown."

"Are you going to tell anyone about what he told you?" She asked him, her tone becoming dark now.

"Would it even matter if I did?" He asked her. "You could just erase everyone's memories like Karl Fritz did. Then I'd be the only one to remember. What would be the point in that?"

"You didn't answer the question." She pointed out. "I'll need an answer before we continue our previous conversation."

"Honestly, I was going to... but I'm not sure anymore." He told her honestly. "Erwin once told me that his father had a theory that the Government had a way to erase people's memories, the next week his dad ended up dead." He told her. "His whole dream is to prove his father right, and I could give that to him, but if I do that, it could destroy his will to continue with the Scouts."

"The Scouts need Erwin Smith if we are to continue with the expeditions." He told her as she silently listened to him. "If he were to lose that will because his dream had been fulfilled, then who would lead the Scouts? Erwin is the best chance we have of killing off the Titan's on this Island. Maybe then that will you have in your head will get a grip and realise that it's causing you to doom your own people."

"The people on this island are sinners!" She hissed at him. "They deserve what's coming to them, all of them do."

"Does that include me? Because from what Rod told me that logic doesn't seem to apply to me." Lucas told her. "How am I different to the people living on this island? And before you say my blood, that's just a petty excuse for someone who can't think of a real counter argument. The truth is, I was born on this island, the same as everyone else who lives here today, so tell me Frieda, what great atrocities have we all committed?"

"Don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question." He said before she could speak. "The truth is that we haven't, the only atrocities commited by Eldian's was by the previous Founding Titan's, their power allowed them to oppress other nations such as Marley. If they really wanted peace then they would have just done it, and they could have altered the memories of the other eight Titan shifters, so you can't use their opposition as an excuse."

"What I think happened was that Karl Fritz believed that his predecessors were wrong in what they did. So he moved his people to this island as some shitty way to protect them because the world wouldn't forgive the Eldian Empire for what they did, even if he asked for it." He explained. "And now we're all suffering from his idiotic decision to try and give us peace. By doing that he doomed his people back on the continent and here, because right now, we're just waiting for death."

"Who knows? Maybe I made it worse by saving you from Grisha." He mused out loud as Frieda just listened silently. "The cycle will probably continue now that you're not dead and instead talking to me right now."

"Why did you save me Lucas?" She asked him. "And I want the truth, not some half baked answer on how you made the decision with your head instead of your heart."

"I don't really know." He answered truthfully. "It was partly because you're not the same as everyone else, you don't think that I'm a heartless killing machine. You actually think of me as a person with a heart, only two other people I know think that of me."

"Is that the whole reason?" She asked skeptically.

"Look, Rod told me how you felt about me, and I'm not as dense as some people I know." He said, thinking of a certain brown haired brat. "I just think that your time would be better spent with someone who didn't risk their life on a daily basis, because you'll just end up with a broken heart if you don't get over me."

"That's not your decision to make." She angrily told him. "I decide who I want to be with, and if I were to choose you then you'd have to deal with it."

"But it's also my decision on whether or not I would accept a relationship with you." He countered. "And I'll tell you again, get over me. I'll probably be inside a Titan's stomach by the end of the year, you'll only be hurting yourself."

"The least you could do is look me in the eye when you say that!" She yelled as she stood up from the bed.

"I can't do that Frieda." He said to her.

"Why not?" She spat at him.

"Because I don't think I could say no if I did." He revealed, making her lose her anger at the moment. "This is for the best Frieda, if I'm constantly weighed down by my feelings then I'll make the wrong decisions in the field, take less risks to ensure that I don't die. My job requires that I give my all for humanity, most soldiers don't, they'll always try to save their own skin, I can't do that."

"Lucas." She sighed. "Would it be so bad to let your heart do the talking for once in your life?" She asked him. "Earlier today after you saved me, you didn't look tired at all, but your heart rate had increased, I could tell it was because I was touching you."

"And believe me or not, but I do like you, a lot in fact." She told him. "Maybe it's love, maybe it's just a crush that'll pass with time, but what I do know is that right now, I do want you."

"Is that you talking?" He asked her before lowering his tone, still refusing to look back at her. "Or is it Karl Fritz that's talking for you."

"If you look into my eyes, you'll find out." She responded, knowing she had him there.

Knowing that he had been caught out by that, he reluctantly turned his head, only to see pure blue in her eyes and no purple streaks in sight.

"I still think it's a bad idea though." He told her. "It could destroy one of us if it ends badly."

Frieda thought how to respond to that for a moment but then smirked at him. "I always thought that actions speak louder than words." She said, quickly leaning forwards to capture his lips in a kiss this time.

This time he was caught off guard by the kiss, but despite his head telling him to push her away, that it was wrong, his heart told him to kiss back, that it would be alright just to try something new for once.

Maybe thinking with his heart wouldn't be so bad if he only did it this one time, right? So with that he threw caution to the wind and kissed her back.

 **A/N- Another chapter done! Grisha is definitely not happy now, Lucas is also having doubts about telling anyone about it. But he's listened to his heart for the first time in a long time, I wonder how it will all turn out in the end? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	7. After the Fall

If Lucas was being honest, he had no idea what the fuck he was meant to be doing while he was kissing Frieda, it was the first time that he had ever kissed a girl and it was pretty horrible to be perfectly frank, her teeth had clashed against his when she tried to push her lips against his even harder, not to mention that his body was still facing the mirror on the desk, so his upper body was twisted around at an uncomfortable angle.

"How was that?" She asked as she pulled away from him, breathing heavily with her cheeks flushed red. "Was that acceptable by your standards?"

"That was awful." He told her truthfully. "Your teeth hit mine, and it felt like you were trying to snap my spine with how you had me twisted around."

"Oh, I'm sorry." She apologised. "I don't know what came over me then, I just-"

She was silenced as he pressed his finger to her lips and turned around fully to face her. "I said it was bad, but that's only because I don't have anything to compare it to." He said seriously, not intending for that to be a challenge.

"Is that so?" She asked, gaining a flirty smile on her face, taking a seat in his lap and putting her arms around his neck. "Then I'll just have to make sure that it's the worst kiss you'll ever have." She whispered to him, leaning in and capturing his lips in a much softer kiss this time.

The kiss was a lot slower this time and with Frieda now on his lap, he was able to put his hands on her hips and hold her still, while she in turn softly caressed his face as she held it in place. As she held her lips against his, she slowly moved her hands down his face and onto his neck moving towards the collar of his Scout jacket, she was about to help him out of it until he grabbed her wrists to stop her and pulled away slightly.

"You do realise how much shit I could get into for just being seen with you like this?" He asked her, cheeks slightly flushed red. "I'd probably get thrown in prison if somebody walked in on us like this, that's not to mention what would happen if my clothes were off."

"I'd be surprised if someone even decided to approach you with handcuffs." She retorted, looking into his eyes. "You're not exactly the most approachable person I know."

"That's only because most people tend to annoy the hell out of me." He replied. "They should realise that my title is literal and not just a namesake."

"And yet, you're stuck beneath me." She flirted. "What does that say about me?" She fluttered her eyes.

"It says that you should shut up before I throw you off of me and I decide to leave." He retorted.

"Why don't you make me shut up then." She teased.

"I'll sew your lips together." He offered. "My mother taught me more than you would think."

"I had something a little different in mind." She smiled at him as she loosened his grip on her wrists. "Maybe I'll just have to show you instead." She stood up and brought him with her, attempting to remove his jacket, only for him to stop her again. "If you stop struggling, it'll make it easier for both of us."

"That's exactly what someone who was trying to kidnap me would say." He pointed out. "And after those words are uttered, they'd be left with no teeth left."

"You're sense of humour is awful." She giggled at his bluntness. "So why don't you humour me by taking your jacket off?"

"My sense of humour isn't awful, I've just been told it's very dry." He said in return. "That seems to be something that you don't seem to be right now."

"Did you just... flirt with me?" She asked with an amused look on her face, surprised that he would say something like that, even if he used his usual no emotion tone with his blank face.

"Just because I don't put my emotions on display like most people do, doesn't mean that I don't know how to do basic things like flirt." He deadpanned. "I just don't see the point in flirting with someone I don't know."

"Sorry, it's just... strange to hear someone flirt with the tone of voice that you used." She giggled at him again.

"You really need to learn to shut up." He growled out, not amused by her teasing at all.

"Then you know how to." She told the slightly shorter than her male. Making another move to take the jacket off, and with some more stubbornness on his part, she finally managed to remove it and threw it onto the chair, only realising that there was something heavy in the pockets as she threw it. "I hope that wasn't anything valuable." She said as she pulled him towards the bed. "I'd hate to break something that's important to you."

"Do you have to constantly talk like that?" He asked as she was walking backwards. "It's starting to annoy me now, just talk normally."

"Where's the fun in that?" She asked, falling back onto the bed, attempting to drag him down with her but he just stood still instead, which prompted her to sit up. "Come on." She gestured with a finger. "I won't bite."

"Somehow I doubt that." He snorted. "I've walked in on my fair share of horny teens trying to relieve stress in the dorms. Animals just can't keep it in their pants." He muttered. "Much like your dad to be honest, can't seem to catch a break with him, can you?"

Frieda looked at him, unimpressed with his obvious attempts to kill the mood for her, she wasn't having that at all. "No, I guess I can't, but what's to stop him from coming after you if he finds us like this?" She asked, standing up once again, tracing circles on his chest with her index finger.

"Maybe the fact that he doesn't have the balls to do anything to me." Lucas retorted, also unimpressed with her obvious advances, he might have kissed her, but unlike some people he could name, he had some self control around women. "You don't seem to be too concerned about him on the other hand." He observed. "Daddy and his mistress getting on your nerves too much?"

"What my father does is his own choice." She firmly told him. "But me on the other hand, I think I know what I want." Her hands went to the hem of his shirt, untucking it and allowing her fingers to trail across his abdomen and sides.

"I didn't realise you were into sexual assualt." He snorted. "I don't remember consenting to being felt up like I'm some sort of possession."

"Oh, is that so?" She asked, feigning ignorance, trailing her hands further up his torso, reaching the claw marks that had been left by the bear five years ago. "Then why did you kiss me back?" She asked. "I think I'd call that consent, wouldn't you?"

"Would you belive me if I said that I only wanted to piss of Rod?" He asked. "Seems like a valid reason to me."

"Then why is your heart rate getting faster?" She questioned in return. "There's no Titan's here to fight, it's just me and you here."

"I'm not even going to point out the obvious irony in that statement." He said, since she was a Titan. "But to answer your question, I'm not a doctor, so how would I know?"

"Didn't they teach you about sex in the military?" She bluntly put it to him. "Surely you aren't that dense?"

"They did." He confirmed for her, her thumbs now tracing his abdominal muscles slowly, while her fingers massaged his sides, with him having to try very hard to not let out even a sigh of pleasure. "But unfortunately, the fifty year old doctor didn't wheel out a woman from his favourite brothel to demonstrate for us." He deadpanned. "I would say it was enlightening, but I probably left with more questions that I had before he started talking."

"You haven't been curious at all about what it's like?" She asked. "Have you even kissed a girl before?"

"If you're asking about before you kissed me, no, I hadn't." He confirmed her suspicions. "The Scouts aren't exactly big on promoting relationships, especially between two Scouts, it can affect decisions in the field. Can't have a senior officer prioritising a significant other over the mission at hand."

"So you're a virgin?" She asked, getting a scoff and an annoyed nod from Lucas, she then leaned into his ear. "Have you ever thought about changing that?" She whispered into his ear.

"No." He deadpanned. "Thinking about when, how or who I'm first going to have sex with is quite stupid in my opinion. It also doesn't help that my mother constantly asks for grandkids."

"Have you ever thought about it?" She asked him. "Having kids I mean." She clarified for him.

"What idiot would want to have kids with me?" He asked her as if she had been joking, she wasn't. "I would be an awful dad to any kid, I'd barely be home, never be there for them, probably never be there at all after I get eaten by a Titan. There's no point putting not one, but two people through that pain of losing someone if I can help it."

"I see." She took a step back, removing her hands and herself from his personal space, earning a raised eyebrow from him at her sudden stoppage. "I can see that you have no interest in continuing with this." She told him. "I obviously overstepped my boundaries and came onto you far too much, I'm sorry for that." She apologised.

" _Does she really think that?"_ He thought, unable to say anything to her. " _Did she lose interest altogether?"_ He was unsure what to think, he could be stubbborn as hell when he wanted to be, blunt with his words, not sparing anyone from his comments.

Something his mother told him yesterday echoed in his mind. " _Playing hard to get may work for some time, but eventually a woman will lose interest if you play impossible to get."_ Was he really doing that? Playing impossible to get?

"Are you even listening to me?" Frieda asked, getting him out of his thoughts. "I asked if you could stay for a few days, I might need your help with something quite soon. Don't worry about the Scouts, I'll have my father send a letter in the morning."

"Right." He managed to get out. "I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." He swifly exited her room at that, not bothering to tuck in his shirt or take his jacket with him.

Frieda smirked to herself when he left the room and left his jacket behind. " _Better find something to keep myself awake before he comes back, don't want to fall asleep before anything happens."_

Downstairs in the kitchen, Lucas was opening every cupboard he could find as he was looking for something to drink, alcohol in his case, preferably whiskey or vodka, but anything would do at the moment, he just needed to clear his head.

"What are you looking for?" A male voice asked from the doorway, Lucas looked over to see Frieda's older brother, Urklyn Reiss, looking at him like he was a common thief.

"You do have alcohol in the kitchen right?" Lucas asked him. "Surely Rod doesn't decide to fuck the maids while sober." He joked. "Actually, it wouldn't surprise me if he did, doesn't seem like the drinking type."

Wordlessly, Urklyn opened a drawer under the counter and put a bottle of whiskey on the counter, glaring hard at an uncaring Lucas.

"Give me that." Lucas snatched the bottle away from him, unscrewing the cap and unceremoniously throwing the drink down his throat, feeling the burning sensation as it went down his throat. "Fuck, that's awful." He muttered, taking another swig from the bottle.

"Aren't you supposed to be in Frieda's room doing god knows what with her?" Urklyn annoyedly asked him, irked by the fact he was drinking straight from the bottle.

"I was in her room, and now I'm here." Lucas corrected him, now feeling the kick from the large swigs he had taken.

"I think even Florian knew why you were in her room." He commented, still giving him the stink eye. "Don't tell me you've finished already?"

"To imply that I've finished would mean that I would've had to start." Lucas retorted. "And I didn't start anything."

"You mean, you and Frieda didn't..."

"Didn't what, Fuck?" Lucas unashamedly asked him, getting Urklyn to wince at the harshness of the tone used. "No we didn't fuck, because unlike Rod, who can't keep his dick in his pants, I can actually control myself when a woman comes on to me."

"I... uh, what?" Urklyn stuttered out, clearly not expecting that kind of reply at all.

"Tch, your stuttering is pissing me off now." Lucas stated. "Get out before I throw you out."

That made Urklyn angry. "You really think you can just come into this house and walk all over us!" He yelled, the whole house probably hearing his outburst. "I don't know who the hell you think you are!" He stormed up to Lucas now. "Threaten me again, and I'll make you regret it."

"Sorry, I couldn't hear you from all the way up there." Lucas taunted him. "Maybe you should get a bit shorter." Lucas then faked a gasp. "I know what to do, I'll rip your shin bones out, then you'll be able to talk to shorter people, how does that sound?" He threatened him, his tone dangerously low.

"You think you're untouchable because you have my idiot sister gawking over you every time she sees you." Urklyn stated, losing his temper now. "Nobody is untouchable in this world, especially a lowlife like you."

"Yeah, I do think I'm untouchable." Lucas stood up as well. "But it's not because of Frieda, it's because I know nobody has the balls to actually do something to me."

"That's not it." Urklyn persisted. "You just haven't met anyone who's not afraid to fave you. If you keep going like you are, you're going to meet them very soon."

"You seem rather confident about that." Lucas noted, taking another shorter swig this time. "Either that or you're playing a huge bluff right now." Lucas guessed. "I guess I'll find out soon."

"You have no idea what these people are capable of." Urklyn warned him. "They wont be scared of you at all, you should watch your back if you're smart."

"I'm starting to regret not taking Frieda up on her offer now." Lucas rubbed his head in annoyance. "Because now I'm certain that fucking her senseless would have been far more preferable to listen to your constant whining." He then let a small smirk grace his lips. "But then again, I would have probably woken up the whole house either way." He said, making Urklyn even more angry than before.

"You... you act like a brat who just goes out of their way to annoy people!" Urklyn yelled.

"Urklyn." Rod appeared at the door. "Go back to your room, it seems that the Corporal has gotten under your skin now." Urklyn then left without a word in return, showing that he was just all bark and no bite.

"The maids aren't here if you're looking for a quick fuck." Lucas deadpanned as he glared at Rod. "I'm sure they'd appreciate being left alone for one night at least, or must you constantly act like a horny teenager? No wonder your family's reputation has already gone to shit. Frieda's the only saving grace the Reiss name has."

"Must you always resort to petty insults?" Rod calmly asked, not letting Lucas get under his skin like he had done to his eldest son.

"Only when I talk to people I don't particularly like." Lucas retorted. "If you haven't guessed, you're one of them."

"I had noticed." Rod snorted at him in response. "I don't understand why you hold a grudge when the others don't, it was over a decade ago when it happened."

"I don't hold a grudge because you cheated on your wife, I find it disgusting that you would do that, but that's not why I dislike you so much." Lucas told him, staring straight at Rod. "I dislike you because you're a coward." He revealed. "You had a child with one of the maids, but you've never even met her, what kind of person does that make you?"

"Where are you going with this?!" Rod demanded, raising his voice at him.

"Historia lives a life where the only person that actually cares for her is Frieda. Her mother despises her, you act like she doesn't exist, much like everyone else in your wretched family." Lucas spat at him. "The only reason she's alive right now is because of the blood she has, not because you actually care or some bullshit like that. No, you're more concerned with your family's reputation than your actual daughter."

"You are way out of line Corporal." Rod was furious now. "You have no right to talk about me or my family like that, especially my children!"

"I do have the right actually, because I've talked to Historia more times than she's actually seen her own father." He responded to Rod. "I'd actually find it quite amusing if I wasn't such a nice guy. To be honest, I'm not sure that you're actually fit to be a father, I mean, you can barely support your own weight, never mind a child you had with a servant."

Rod took a deep breath to calm himself, getting angry wasn't going to get him anywhere. "I see what you're doing Corporal, you're trying to get under my skin like you did with my son, but I won't let you." Rod calmly told him.

"The fact that you had to calm yourself down tells me I'm already under your skin." Lucas replied with a dead stare at him. "But them again, under your skin isn't really hitting that deep, is it?"

"Enough!" Rod snapped at him. "I want you out of my house now! I don't give a damn what Frieda wants! I tried my best to ignore you, but you make it impossible. I don't want you back here, ever."

"I don't think that's really your choice though." Lucas replied, slightly amused by his outburst. "If I recall, Frieda is the Queen of the Walls, not you."

"I. Don't. Care." Rod emphasised his words for him. "This is my home, I will not have you-"

"Enough father!" Frieda demanded from the doorway of the kitchen, having heard the whole conversation. "Leave us." She commanded after he tried to protest. "I'll deal with him." She glared at Lucas, seemingly unimpressed with his antics.

"Upstairs, now." She glared at him after Rod had left, also turning and leading him towards her room again, her bare feet still padding against the wooden floors of the hallways.

Once they had re-entered her room, she wordlessly gestured for him to take a seat on the bed, which he did, with her taking a seat next to him.

"I heard what you said about Historia." She opened up with. "That was kind of you to say that."

"It wasn't kind." He tried to deny it. "I just told him the truth, it's wrong how he tries to ignore the fact she exists."

"I know that, but that's what I wanted to talk to you about." She said, getting him to raise an eybrow at that. "I want Historia to come and live here, at the estate, the thing is... the Royal Assembly thinks that she's a stain on the Reiss family name."

"You think they might try to kill her since the wall fell today." He guessed. "I wouldn't put it past them, they'll do just about anything to keep themselves in power."

"I think they might try and make her disappear." She agreed with him. "But I'm afraid that they might do it anyway, even if I tell them not to."

"You want my help." It wasn't a question, rather a statement from him.

"They have someone like you who works for them, I can't stop him, but you can." She said, grabbing his hand with both of hers. "I need your help with this, please Lucas, help me."

"Fine." He relented after a short while of her staring into his eyes. "I'll help you save your sister."

"Thank you." She sincerely told him, before thinking back to what happened earlier. "Listen, about what happened earlier..."

"What about it?" He asked, refusing to meet her gaze now.

"It was wrong of me to do that, I just got caught up in the moment, and I'm sorry for that." She apologised to him once again.

He eyed her from the corner of his eye and sighed out loud. "It wasn't wrong for you to kiss me." He replied, causing her to get confused. "Right and wrong is just a matter of perspective, to you and me, the Assembly trying to kill Historia would be wrong, but to them, it's right, and no, I'm not condoning their actions, it was just an example."

"I see... then, did you think it was wrong of me to kiss you?" She asked. "Because you made it sound like I thought it was right and not you."

"For the past year, I've tried so hard to convince myself that the only reason I kept coming back here was because you offered to keep the Scouts funded." He ignored her question, slightly annoying her. "I've tried so hard to just come here, get the day over with and get on with my job."

"But I just can't seem to do that." He continued on with, not giving her a chance to reply. "When I leave, all I think about is you, I keep trying to deny it, but that doesn't seem to work at all." He let out a dry laugh at that. "When I was young, all I wanted was to have a happy life with people I actually cared for, and when I left the room earlier." He swallowed the lump in his throat. "... I thought I blew it." He whispered, barely loud enough for her to hear.

Taking a moment to process what she thought he said, she swiftly, but gently grabbed his chin and turned him to face her where she pressed her lips onto his once again.

He honestly didn't mind the fact that she was putting her hand under his shirt when they were kissing, it felt... nice, what he did have an issue with though, was when she started trying to take his shirt off, getting it up to his chest before he stopped her.

"Wait." He stopped her, panting heavily because of the kiss that stopped him from breathing.

"What is it?" She asked, face flushed red, panting as heavy as him, with concern written all over her face.

"If we're really going to do this can we..." He paused for a second, considering the best way to put it. "Can we... take it slow, at least to start with?"

She smiled at him when he said that, despite the aura of confidence one would presume that he had, he was probably more nervous than her in this situation.

"That would be alright with me." She nodded at him. "As long as I get to see you often enough."

"Fine, but no one finds out about this." He pleaded. "At least not for a while."

"That's fine." She shrugged. "Now, can we get back to what we were doing?"

"Tch, if you have to ask, it kinda ruins the mood." He scoffed. "Don't ask, just do."

She smirked at him once again, moving close to press her lips up agaibst his once again, still allowing her hands to roam under his shirt, but she was mindful of the boundaries that had been set this time.

(2 days later, Northern Wall Sina)

Two days later at night, Frieda, Lucas and Historia's mother, Alma were all on their way to the farm that Historia had spent her whole life on so that Frieda could bring her to live with the rest of her family, Rod, the fantastic father he is, was nowhere to be seen, which came as no shock to Lucas.

"Lady Reiss." Alma spoke up, sounding quite nervous. "Not to be rude, but does he have to keep looking at me like that?" She asked, referring to the stare Lucas was giving her.

"Don't mind him Alma." Frieda assured her. "It's how he looks at everyone, me included in that list."

With that short conversation over, the rest of the carriage ride was silent for the most part, with Frieda occasionally talking to Alma or Lucas to settle her nerves about the situation they were in. It was concluded by Lucas that Alma was an awful mother, and had told her as such, only to be scolded by Frieda, who defended her for some unknown reason to him.

When the finally arrived it was dark outside, which would have been perfect for anyone to sneak up on them, Lucas observed that he wouldn't be able to see anyone until they were about fifteen feet away from him, so as a precaution, he had his hand on the handle of his gear, which had a blade locked in.

That didn't go unnoticed by Alma, who scurried away from him in response to the other side of Frieda who gave him a glare. "Can you take your hand off your gear Lucas?" She politely asked him.

"No thanks, I'd rather not die because I wasn't prepared for something." He said in response. "If it makes you feel better Alma, I won't use it on you." He said to her, which didn't make her feel any better at all, it just added to her fear and nervousness.

"He won't hurt you Alma." Frieda tried to assure her. "He's just looking out for us." She reaffirmed. "In his own way." She muttered, stepping into the farmhouse with Alma and Lucas behind her.

"You two stay here." Frieda spoke up once they entered the farmhouse. "I'll go find Historia, then we can all leave, okay?"

Alma glanced over at Lucas, then swiftly turned her head away after seeing that he was looking at her and nodded her head at Frieda, who sighed to herself and went to look for Historia.

"If you don't stop looking like you're going to shit yourself every time I look at you, I'm going to drag you to the bathroom so you can shit without staining your clothes." Lucas spoke up after Alma kept looking away after constantly glancing over to him, the fear evident in her eyes.

"What, no response at all?" He sarcastically asked, feigning hurt at the lack of response. "I shouldn't really be surprised, since the only time you talked to your daughter was when you said you wished you had the courage to kill her."

"You couldn't possibly understand!" She hissed at him, getting angered at his comments towards her. "What it's like to live in fear for years because of that mistake-"

"It's not her fault though." Lucas interrupted her. "It's your fault." He corrected her. "It was your decision to fuck about with the Lord of the manor, whether you like it or not, she's your kid, and I don't care what Frieda says, we're not leaving until you apologise to her."

"Apologise for what?" She spat back at him. "That I didn't kill her when I had the chance? That I screwed the wrong man? What is it you want me to possibly apologise for?" She demanded.

"The fact that you haven't guessed it kinda makes me feel sick." Lucas looked at her with his usual dead stare. "You're going to apologise for being a shitty mother, and that you'll try to be better than you were."

"I can't do that!" She protested. "They'll have me killed for having that child! These people are no joke! They'll do anything to keep me quiet!"

"Isn't that why I'm here?" He asked her, not really expecting an answer to that. "In case you hadn't noticed, I'm not a joke either, and these people will have to go through me to get to either of you."

"Why?" She asked in disbelief. "Why would you put yourself on the line for someone's mistress? Someone that can easily be made to disappear?"

"I can be very stubborn when I want to be." He told her. "I had a free ticket to the MP's, but I chose the Scouts because I was too stubborn to change my mind about it, but if I hadn't done that, then you'd probably be dead to be honest."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you." She retorted. "But I've seen too much of human greed up close to take you at your word."

"Whatever." He scoffed. "Just don't come crying thank you when I save your life."

Before anymore words could be said between the two, Frieda re-entered the room with Historia at her side, holding her hand.

"You remember Lucas don't you?" Frieda asked, to which she furiously nodded, while Frieda was her big sister, Lucas was like a big brother to her, he always gave her advice on how to deal with the boys that threw rocks at her, and how best to throw rocks back at them, which Frieda disapproved of for some unknown reason to Lucas.

"Hey pip-squeak." He used the nickname that both Historia and Frieda disliked. "How are you?"

She beamed a smile at him in response as Frieda let go of her hand, taking the chance to give him a hug, with her only coming up to about his stomach, so her arms were wrapped around his waist.

He ruffled her hair in response, knowing that she seemed to like that. "You going to let go pip-squeak? Because I think someone has something to say to you." He glanced over to Alma, who was clearly uncomfortable by what was happening.

"Mother?" Historia asked as she watched her fidget uncomfortably, but this was the first time she hadn't yellad at Historia for just talking to her.

"Historia I-" She cut herself off, but one look at Lucas prompted her to continue. "I- I'm- I'm sorry." She finally managed to get out. "I'm sorry for being a terrible mother to you." She apologised to her, but looking at Lucas she realised she had to say more. "I will try my best to be a better mother to you." She forced herself to say, Lucas could tell she didn't mean it, but he could make her with enough convincing that she wouldn't end up dead because of Historia.

"Let's go." Frieda prompted and grabbed Historia by the hand again. "We can talk about this when we reach your new home, okay Historia?"

"Okay!" She responded, excited that she was going to be able to live with her big sister and her mother now.

Once they were outside and were walking to the carriage, they all noticed that they weren't alone, there were at least ten men and women surrounding them, all dressed in black to blend in with the darkness of the night.

Alma was by far the worst when it came to her reaction, with her screaming in fear and running about, if Lucas hadn't grabbed her arm and forced her to stop, then she definitely would've ran straight into one of the men.

"Your Majesty." One of the men spoke up, he was the tallest and twirled a knife in his hand. "We didn't expect you to be here, to what do we owe this fine pleasure?" He asked, voice laced with sarcasm.

"Kenny." Frieda growled out at him, an obvious dislike towards him. "What are you doing here?" She demanded.

"The Assembly was concerned after what happened at your family chapel a few nights ago." Kenny explained. "But with the fact that you all survived, there's no need for these two to continue on living, right?"

"If you want to kill these two so badly." Lucas drew one of his blades. "Then you'll have to go through me to do so." He threatened Kenny and the rest of them.

"Is this your new pet, your highness?" Kenny sarcastically asked. "I expected more, especially considering he's considered to be humanity's strongest soldier, he looks like a sack of potatoes could break his back." Kenny jested, obviously referring to his rather short stature.

"I see that you've done your research on me." Lucas noted. "But I doubt you've seen me in action, if you come closer, I'd be happy to demonstrate for you." He spoke with a dead tone and no sign of backing down on his face.

"Oh, seems like we've got a fighter here!" Kenny yelled out. "Although it might be fun to see what you're made of boy, I'd rather not die before I can accomplish my dream."

"What does a man like you even dream of?" Lucas asked, making sure that none of the others were going to make a move on Historia or Alma. "Killing kittens and children? Because the only kitten I see here is you."

"Your Majesty." Kenny spoke to Frieda once again, but there was obviously no respect in his tone at all. "Hand over the servant and the girl, before we have to resort to more... extreme measures." He threatened. "These two have brought a stain upon the Reiss family name, and it is our duty to keep that stain from spreading."

"Perhps you didn't hear me earlier old man." Lucas spoke up once again. "You can't have them, you'll have to go through me first."

"Fine." Kenny relented. "You two." He pointed at a male and a female. "Kill him, then bring the servant to me." He ordered.

Alma squealed in terror after Kenny metioned her, knowing that she would most likely end up dead in a few minutes. Lucas on the other hand, remained completely stil as the two approached him, both having knives similar to Kenny's in their hands.

"You could at least make your death entertaining." Kenny spoke up since Lucas hadn't moved yet. "It'd be quite boring to watch humanity's strongest go down without a fight."

The first to make a move was the female, lunging straight at his chest with the knife, Lucas in return swiftly used his left hand to grab her forearm and redirect the strike towards the man who had also moved forward, striking him in the throat as she was unprepared for the strength of his counter.

"What the-" She was cut off as her head snapped to the side with a sickening crunch, and with the fact that Lucas had his hands in her head, it was clear that her neck had been snapped while she was in shock of what she had done.

"Sorry about that." Lucas replied to Kenny once the bodies had hit the floor. "I would have used my swords, but unfortunately for you, I'm not in the entertainment business."

"That much is obvious." Kenny retorted, looking rather displeased about how it went down. "That was rather disappointing, I must say I expected this to be more exciting."

"You don't always get what you want in life." Lucas spat back at him. "You just have to deal with what you're given, even if it's not what you wanted."

"You all need to leave now." Frieda tried to order them. "You've seen what he can do if you try anything, leave now, and he won't do anything more to you." She tried to threaten them with.

"Sorry your Royal Highness." Kenny sarcastically spoke to her once again. "But we can't leave until these two disappear from Lord Reiss' life completely, stains must be cleansed after all."

"You can't have them." Frieda made her stance clear to them, eyes starting to turn purple. "Hurt any of these three, and I'll show you why you should be scared of me."

"Well then it seems that we're stuck at a crossroads." Kenny anounced to them all. "You and your precious boyfriend here are trying to save them, while we need them to disappear, but only one thing can happen, can't it?" He hardened his gaze at Frieda, challenging her to make a firm decision.

"Wait, I have an idea." Lucas announced. "I'll take them back with me to Wall Rose, a new name, a new life, out of your hair, and still alive. How does that sound?" Lucas glared at Kenny, issuing the same challenge he had just issued.

"I kinda hoped that I'd get to kill something tonight." Kenny grumbled out. "Fine." He reluctantly agreed. "As long as they never come back, I can deal with that."

"You won't try to look for them." It was more of an order and not a suggestion.

"Yeah whatever." Kenny shrugged it off. "Come on." He ordered the others. "We're done here."

As he and the others all left, leaving the two bodies behind to be dealt with later, Frieda walked up to Lucas and hugged him tightly. "Thank you." She whispered into his ear.

"It was either that or death." Lucas said nonchalantly as he patted her back awkwardly. "If you would let go, we should leave before they come back."

"Give me a moment with Historia." She requested, getting on her knees and placing her forehead to Historia's, she started whispering to her.

"You'll forget why I was here and who I am to you Historia, but you'll remember that Lucas saved you and Alma, you'll remember that you can always depend on him, you can always trust him, but remember, you should always be kind to people, you'll need friends to help you, this world is full of hardships." With that she released her and walked over to Lucas again.

"Take care of her." Frieda whispered to him, gently leaning to kiss him on the cheek like she had when they first met, and stepped away so they could leave.

"Come on pip-squeak." Lucas encouraged Historia, holding out his hand to her. "We've got to get you a new life."

Historia took his hand and glanced over to her mother who was reluctantly following them, but she thought she could see another women in the darkness, but when she blinked, she couldn't see her anymore and dismissed it completely, Lucas had saved her and he was going to help her get a new life.

(Scouts HQ, Wall Rose)

"Berner!" Lucas called out as he spotted the crazy lady's assistant, but Moblit was shocked, Lucas had been presumed dead after he failed to show up after Wall Maria had fallen.

"Corporal!" Moblit exclaimed. "You're alive!"

"Of course I am, I'm here, aren't I?" He asked sarcastically, not expecting an answer out of the man. "Where is Erwin's office? I need to talk to him." He sounded serious, a rare occurrence since he was usually sarcastic most of the time.

"You never turned up after Shiganshina fell." Moblit frantically spoke to him. "We presumed that you were dead, Erwin gave a speech about you yesterday."

"What do you mean?" Lucas asked in confusion. "I was... that bastard." Lucas swore. "I should've known he'd rather harass maids than send a letter." He growled out.

"What are you talking about Corporal?" Moblit asked, confused about what he was talking about. "Where were you exactly?"

"Doesn't matter." Lucas dismissed it. "Where is Erwin's office?" He practically demanded.

"It's up the stairs and at the end of the corridor." Moblit replied, but then remembered something important. "You should know, Erwin already..." He trailed off as Lucas had already ran away from him. "Gave Levi your rank." He finished off, despite the fact he was already gone.

Lucas easily found Erwin's office, it had Commander written on the door, ignoring all formalities, he swung the door open without knocking and walked in to Erwin doing paperwork.

Erwin usually kept a calm face on most of the time, rarely giving away any hint of emotion, but he couldn't keep the shock off his face at the presumed dead Lucas Ackerman walking through his door five days after Wall Maria had fallen, three days after he was presumed dead.

"Lucas, you're-"

"Shut up and listen Erwin." Lucas demanded of him, reaching into his pocket and handing him a portrait. "I wasn't sure if I should show you this, but I don't think I have a choice anymore." Lucas said to him. "I'm going to get Mike and Hange, you get anyone you trust to keep completely quiet about this." He said, leaving the room before Erwin had a chance to get a word in.

Erwin examined the portrait, it was far too detailed to be hand drawn, so he flipped it over to see if there was anything on the back, and when he read it, his eyes nearly bulged out of his head.

"If this is true..." Erwin trailed off, a smile gracing his lips for a second before standing up from his desk, going off to find Levi before he could begin to speculate anything else.

 **A/N- So Lucas and Frieda, interesting dynamic there. A non-sinner and the Queen of the Walls, I do wonder how that'll develop, especially since her family seems to dislike him and vice-versa. Historia and Alma though, both being saved by Lucas, but Alma stil seems like she despises her, but that was probably because she thought she would be killed because of her, and now she and Historia live a new life in Wall Rose. But now Erwin knows the truth, and Mike, Hange and probably Levi will be let in on the truth as well. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	8. The Truth and Some Help

Finding Mike Zacharias was not as easy as one would expect it to be, usually someone with an extremely sensitive nose would be prancing about the flower fields outside the base, or even scouring the rest of the base in search of something good to smell, but it wasn't as easy as that, instead Lucas had to search the whole castle from top to bottom, running into a multitude of people who assumed he was dead, just to find Mike in the canteen eating his fucking lunch early.

"Mike you nosy bastard!" Lucas called out to him. "Erwin wants you in his office now!" He yelled across the canteen.

"You're still alive?" Mike questioned in shock after seeing who it was that insulted him from across the hall. "Where have you been?" He practically demanded.

"I'll explain later." Lucas sighed, knowing that it wouldn't come across great as to what he was actually doing, especially since he was going to lie to them about that. "But Erwin wants you in his office, now." He emphasised the point, making Mike stand up in response to the urgency.

"Fine, I'll make my way there now." Mike relented, seeing the serious look on Lucas' face made the quick decision for him. "I haven't seen you look this serious ever." Mike quipped. "Something happen?"

"Shut up." Lucas growled out, getting annoyed by Mike's teasing. "By the way, have you seen Hange?" Lucas asked him. "She needs to be there as well."

"I haven't seen her in a while." Mike responded. "Though if I had to guess, try the infirmary, she's been holed up in there since the Wall fell."

"I'll check it out first." Lucas nodded, turning to leave before Mike stopped him.

"She may like to tease you, but Hange was pretty torn up when you were presumed dead." Mike revealed to him. "You may not see it that way, but you're one of her best friends, and it hurt her a lot to think that you died, we may witness death as part of our jobs, but it never gets any easier when we lose someone close to us."

"If she thinks she'll be getting a hug, then she's even more insane than I thought." Lucas snorted. "She'll be eating the dust off the floor before her arms get near me." He said, leaving the canteen right after he finished speaking to look for Hange.

"It's nice to see that death hasn't changed you." Mike quietly said to himself as he proceeded to the door and on to Erwin's office.

The walk to the infirmary was practically torturous for Lucas, if it wasn't Hange he was seeking then he probably would've ran, but considering he was her 'favourite' test subject, mainly because they hadn't been cleared to capture Titans for testing, he'd be surprised if she still wanted to after everything was said and done.

Plus there was what Mike said about her being torn up about his supposed death, he really didn't want to deal with that woman if she started crying on him, the most she would get from him was a pat on the back if she was lucky.

Once he arrived withing sight of the infirmary, he could tell there would be a problem since Moblit was struggling to open the door while shouting into the room.

"Hange! Open the door!" He yelled to her since she had presumably locked herself in the room. "I'm telling you the truth!" He continued on, pounding at the door with his fist. "He's still alive Hange! I saw him earlier!"

"You're lying!" Hange yelled from the other side of the door, she did sound pretty upset though. "My favourite test subject is dead Moblit! There's no one else like him!" She cried through the door.

"How long has this been going on?" Lucas asked as he approached, having had enough of listening to them go back and forth.

"She's been like this for a few days." Moblit admitted. "I've only seen her out once, and that was just so she could wash her hair, she said it's what you would've wanted."

"At least she has some common sense, even if it only seems to come into play after I die." Lucas muttered to himself. "Move out of the way." He ordered. "I'll show her that I'm not dead."

With that he lifted his leg up and effortlessly kicked open the door and stormed in, he wasn't happy about his time being wasted by her, but she should've gotten a grip by now, even if he was really dead.

"Hange you four-eyed idiot!" Lucas called out to her, instantly gaining her attention. "You're lucky I'm not Levi. This place looks like shit." He stated, taking note of the scattered papers all over the place. "You're lucky Moblit said you washed your hair, otherwise I would've forced your head into a nearby river."

"You're... really here?" Hange asked in disbelief as she poked her head out from behind one of the curtains. "Erwin said you were dead and I..." She trailed off at the end.

"Of course I'm not dead." Lucas scoffed at her. "Have you forgotten who I am, or do I need to remind you by hitting you?" He threatened her.

"It really is you!" She squealed out in delight. "Only the Corporal Shorty I know would threaten a superior officer like that!" She then practically skipped over to him and put an arm around his neck. "Now that you're back, we need to make up for all that lost time, I certainly haven't been productive enough these past few days, maybe we-" She was cut off as Lucas used his smaller stature to throw her onto the floor with a hip toss. "That's definitely the Corporal Shorty I know." She groaned out in pain.

"On your feet Hange." He said, grabbing her by the collar of her jacket and hauling the scientist to her feet with ease. "We have things to discuss in Erwin's office before we have an even bigger crisis on our hands." He said, making his way to the door, but looking back he saw that Hange wasn't following him. "Come on Hange you idiot." He urged. "Unlike your shitty experiments, this is actually important."

"Oh, right, okay." She said, not used to him being this serious, ever. "Let's go then." She said to the slightly shorter man.

Once they had arrived at Erwin's office, not without the usual questioning from a naturally curious Hange, Lucas was relieved to see that Mike and Erwin were both there, but narrowed his eyes at a certain raven haired midget who was with them as well.

"You brought Levi here?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "A year ago he tried to kill you, and now you've brought him here."

"Levi is trustworthy Lucas." Erwin assured him. "You can be sure he won't speak a word of what is said in this room."

"Erwin, I really don't-"

"He already showed me the photograph." Levi interjected, remaining calm throughout the ordeal. "Now you better start explaining."

Instead of saying anything, Lucas reached into the inside of his jacket and carelessly threw three small notebooks on the table, piquing the interest of three of the four individuals in the room that were about to learn the truth of the world.

"Read them." Lucas ordered them. "Save your questions until you're all finished, it'll be easier that way."

Taking the initiative, Erwin reached for the book that was closest to him, examining it he noticed it was just a normal notebook that you could buy in any city within the walls, opening the book he began to read, with Levi reading over his shoulder.

Hange quickly grabbed one of the other two books available to read and dove right into it, while Mike was a bit more tentative about it, as if he was considering whether or not to actually read it, but in the end, he gave up and opened the book and started to read.

For what felt like hours the four of tjem read the books continuously, with Levi barely managing to keep a straight face without it contorting into one of disgust, Mike looked shocked by what he had been reading, Erwin could barely contain the smile that was trying to etch it's way onto his face at the momen.

Hange on the other hand was a completely different story, she was mortified by what she had read, mostly about the fact that every Titan in existence had once been a human like her, it was a sickening thought, one that she had even dismissed from being true once before. But learning that the giant beings that had eaten many of her comrades were once like her, not to mention the fact that there were nine people that could actively transform into Titans when they wanted, and that wasn't even mentioning the supposed 'tens of millions' of Colossal Titans hiding inside all three Walls, it seemed like their world was falling apart.

"You've confirmed that every piece of information written in these books are correct?" Erwin asked Lucas once they had finished, eager to know if it was real, or just a dream.

"I can't say for sure, but it looks that way." Lucas admitted. "Given what happened a few days ago, I'm inclined to believe that it's all true."

"What about Grisha Yeager?" Erwin questioned. "I'd like to meet him as soon as possible, maybe he could shed some more light on this situation for us." He suggested.

"That... might be a bit difficult." Lucas responded, refusing to look at Erwin.

"Don't you know where he is?" Erwin pressed on. "We need him here before he runs out of time."

"He's dead Erwin." Lucas interrupted the Commander. "I found what I assumed to be his mangled body in the forest outside of Trost yesterday."

"So he's already passed on his power." Hange summed up for him, slowly getting over her shock at what the Titans really were. "Who'd he give it to?"

"I'm pretty sure he gave it to his son, his wife said he turned up and took Eren into the forest and never came back, so naturally I put two and two together."

"So he's basically killed his own son by doing that?" Mike asked. "If that thirteen year curse is real, he'll have to be eaten to pass it on, right?"

"That's right." Lucas confirmed. "But Eren has always wanted to join the Scouts, so if we wait, he'll come to us without being forced."

"We may not have time to wait." Levi interrupted. "For all we know, the Colossal and Armoured Titans could be preparing for another attack right now."

"No, their objective is most likely to secure the Founding Titan." Lucas replied. "If there's even the slightest chance that the King would flatten the earth, they wouldn't risk doing that."

"Then what would they be doing?" He asked in return. "I doubt they'll wait for us to come find them."

"They'll be looking for the Founding Titan." Hange realised. "If what Grisha wrote was true, then they'd only send Titan Shifters with at least nine or more years left so they don't run the risk of losing the power completely."

"What're you getting at Hange?" Levi asked, losing his patience now.

"Don't you see, adults would be too hard to control, especially after spending their whole life being oppressed." Hange elaborated for them. "The only other option would be to send-"

"Children." Erwin finished off for her, it was a terrifying thought, sending children to commit genocide just so they could gain control over the Founding Titan.

"Not just children, they'd have to go through military style training back in Marley, the testing would have to be rigorous to ensure they had the best candidates available." She was getting excited now. "Not only that, they'd be around the age to enlist in the Cadet Corps here now."

"Why would they bother wasting three years training to become soldiers?" Mike asked. "Surely they'd be better off smuggling themselves into the interior and looking from there, It'd be a lot easier to become a servant than a soldier, especially if they have a limited time."

"I have an answer to that." Lucas spoke up. "When Grisha told me all this, I offered to take Eren's place and inherit the Attack Titan, he said I couldn't, that I wasn't a subject of Ymir, and that I wouldn't come under the influence of the powers of the Founding Titan."

"Get on with it." Levi rudely urged him. "We don't have all day."

"If there was more than one bloodline that was immune to the King's powers, then surely they'd pass on the secrets to make sure they have some leverage over the King." He explained. "To make sure they aren't killed, they pass on the secrets of the world, but they'd want something in return to keep quiet."

"It's the nobility!" Hange yelled out as she figured it out. "They were given power and money in return for their cooperation, that's the only thing that makes sense."

"Hange, stop interupting me, I was trying to say something." Lucas glared at her, to which she sheepishly smiled. "But she's right, the nobility are most likely immune to the Founding Titan's powers, but that means they know how the world really works, but most importantly, they won't hire any servants, they'll most likely cut themselves off to people from outside Mitras, it would be impossible for any shifters to spy on them by working for them."

"Then the only option would be to get into the Interior Military Police through the Cadets." Erwin mused out loud.

"That's assuming they did use kids to do it." Mike interjected. "They could've just as easily used brainwashed adults to do it as well."

"The minds of children are a lot different to ones of fully grown adults like us." Hange explained. "It's a lot easier to manipulate someone who doesn't fully understand what's going on around them, that way there would be less risk of having one of them go rogue and betray them."

"Even if we're right in the fact that they probably used children, that doesn't change the fact that they have a power we have no understading of." Levi spoke up. "We don't even know how many of them are hiding within the walls right now, it could be two, or even seven of them."

"They wouldn't send all seven of them." Lucas dismissed that idea. "It's more likely that they sent a group of them, a minimum of two that we know of, a maximum of five, maybe six?" He guessed.

"Even if Grisha's son were to fight with us, we're still at a huge disadvantage." Mike pointed out. "We don't even know the other Titans that there are, not to mention that one is covered in armour from the reports in Shiganshina."

"The armour isn't from head to toe Mike." Lucas corrected him. "He'd need his joints to be free in order to actually move, if we can cut through the gaps in his armour, we can stop him from moving, specifically-"

"The spot behind the knee!" Hange interrupted once again. "If Lucas, Levi or even Mike could get in close, they could sever the muscle there and stop him in his tracks!"

"That's assuming we're there when it shows up." Levi responded. "Surely even oppressed idiots would be smart enough to attack when the best Titan killers aren't present."

"We can't just let one of you stay behind in the off chance that they attack while we're on an expedition." Erwin said. "However, that doesn't mean we can't have a warning system put into place in the event we are away when they turn up again."

"The majority of the Titans come from the south, so their next target will probably be Trost." Hange voiced her own thoughts. "But now we know why they congregate to the south, because thats where they're..." She couldn't get the words out of her mouth at the moment.

"It doesn't matter where they're created." Lucas saved her from saying it, which she was grateful for. "What does matter is that we're prepared for what's coming, and for that we'll need Eren on our side, preferably with military training, alongside that, any new recruits to join up after this point in time should be put under suspicion, we'll also need to keep an eye on them without raising any attention."

"That shouldn't be too hard, we can put in a request to Premier Zackly to have a liaison officer sent to the trainee camps, but we'll need a Garrison and MP liaison as to not raise suspicion, with the enemy, or the Government." Erwin offered up a simple solution to that.

"What about the actual recruits?" Mike asked. "We'll need to give them background checks to see if their stories check out."

"Any recruits from Wall Rose or even Sina should be easy enough to research, it's the ones from Wall Maria that we should worry about." Erwin responded. "If they're smart, they'll blend in with refugees, use a story that's hard to corroborate, but also hard to dismiss if they seem genuine enough."

"The mark of a good spy is how they act in enemy territory, if they're any good, they'll keep any relations to any others at a minimum, otherwise they could have doubts about what they're doing, which could be beneficial to us." Lucas said, which they agreed with.

"Considering the fact they're brought up to believe that we're 'Devils' that pose a threat to the world, spending time inside the Walls may bring them down to reality." Erwin spoke after Lucas had finished. "If we play it right, we could even stall them long enough to kill or capture them, with another shifter on our side, our chances if victory would be increased dramatically."

"We would need the spinal fluid of a Titan before we could even consider that option." Lucas reminded him. "We don't have the equipment to secure a Titan long enough to safely extract any amount of spinal fluid, we can't needlessly risk the lives of soldiers for something like that, no matter how important it is."

"I agree with you on that Lucas." Erwin responded, he then turned to Hange. "Hange, I'll need you to start designing a device to safely capture and restrain a Titan, shifter included." He then turned to Mike. "Mike, you'll be running the background checks on all recruits starting this upcoming year, start with ones originating from Wall Maria, report all discrepancies to me." He then turned to Levi. "Levi, you'll be in charge of training all new cadets that join the Scouts, your gut instincts are usually on point, if there's anything wrong with any of them, report it immediately."

He then finally turned to face Lucas. "Lucas, you'll be our liaison officer for the cadets, it'll be crucial to have Eren join the Scouts if that time comes, it'll be better to have someone he knows there instead of someone else." He then addressed them all. "Meet in the stables in an hour, I want to see the body of Grisha Yeager, maybe we can learn something from it, we'll meet at a later date to discuss this in more detail."

They all stood up and made a move to leave, but Erwin motioned for Lucas to stay, which he let out an exasperated sigh as he did.

"What is it?" He asked, not wanting to waste any more time than he was currently doing.

"You were presumed dead Lucas." Erwin began. "But even then we needed to continue forward, so I had given Levi the rank of Corporal yesterday, which means he's taken your position."

"What?" Lucas asked, face blank of any emotion. "So you're putting me back to the rank of new recruit then?"

"No, the opposite actually." Erwin replied, surprising Lucas, but he didn't let it show. "You always complain about not being paid enough, but given your recent achievement of coming back from thd dead, and this... information you've provided us with, the only option I see is to promote you."

" _Please not Section Commander."_ He pleaded internally, he didn't want to be responsible for an entire section of the formation.

"Congratulations on the promotion, Captain Ackerman." Erwin congratulated him as he stood up and formally shook his hand. "Once we have the numbers capable of putting together another expedition, you'll be given command of your own squad, hand-picked by you." He told him. "I suggest you choose wisely, because once Eren Yeager joins us, he'll be under your watch."

"You say that like it's a given that I'll be alive once he joins up." Lucas crossed his arms over his chest. "I'll probably be inside a Titan's stomach before he finishes training."

"Somehow I doubt that." Erwin raised an eyebrow at him. "You'll need to pick four others to join your squad, Mike, Hange and Levi are off limits, I have something else in mind for them."

"Always with the cryptic bullshit." Lucas snorted. "Will you ever tell me what you're really thinking about?"

"That depends... will you tell me where you were for the past few days?" Erwin requested of him. "Your mother told us that you had left the boats to find a horse, but nothing else came of that lead, so we assumed you had died out there."

"I was... in Wall Sina, saving a little girls life if you must know." He relented. "Government thought it would be a good idea to get rid of that pig's mistress and her kid, I couldn't let that happen, could I?"

"I suppose not." Erwin slowly responded, seemingly not buying his story. "Although I would be surprised if your help wasn't requested by your favourite noble, she must be important if you went there before reporting back here."

"No, we're not fucking." Lucas bluntly responded, it wasn't a lie, more like a half truth. "We're just friends... nothing more."

"Alright, I won't ask any further." Erwin reluctantly, gave up on the topic. "But before you leave, do I need to remind you about your duty as a member of the Scouting Regiment?" He asked, confusing Lucas for a second. "It's fine if you want to be involved with her, but you can't let your desire to come back affect your decisions in the field, is that clear?"

"How did you...?"

"I didn't." Erwin smirked at him. "But you just confirmed it for me."

"You... fuck you Erwin." He growled out, slamming the door shut on his way out, amusing Erwin slightly with his childish antics at being found out.

(Wall Rose, three miles outside of Trost)

"It's not much further." Lucas said to the four individuals that were following him in the forest outside of Trost. "It's not a pretty sight, it also reeks of rotting flesh." He warned them, looking over at Mike specifically.

"He's right." Mike confirmed, recoiling as he sniffed the air once again. "I can already smell the rotting flesh."

Once they reached a small clearing in the forest, the mangled legs of what Erwin could only presume to be Grisha Yeager remained, alongside his body were a pair of glasses that appeared to have fallen onto the ground.

"It... certainly does look like a Titan ate him." Mike was the first to speak up. "I was hoping that it wouldn't be the case, but it looks like it's all true now, even I can't deny it." He said, wrinkling his nose in disgust at the smell of the rotting flesh.

"Hange, Levi, bag the corpse." Erwin ordered them. "Take it back to HQ, we need to see if we can learn anything from... what's left."

"And don't let anyone see it." Lucas added in. "We don't need people asking questions about why some mangled limbs were found in the forest."

"Tch, this is disgusting." Levi complained, disgusted at the thought of touching the corpse. "Why can't Mike or Lucas do it?"

"Because the Commander told you to." Lucas told him. "Hurry up and get to it... Corporal."

"Tch, come on Four-Eyes." Levi urged the woman next to him. "The sooner we finish, the sooner I can wash the filth off of me."

"What do you think we could learn from his body?" Hange excitedly asked as she started wrapping up one of the legs. "The possibilities are endless, the knowledge we could learn from this." She was basically drooling now, with a slap to the head Lucas snapping her out of it.

"You can drool on the body once you've finished with it." Lucas said, unamused with her childish behaviour. "We need to be quick about this, somebody could come along any second now." He reminded them of the urgency they were facing.

"For once I agree with him." Levi agreed. "The less time we spend here, the less blood and dirt I'll get on myself."

"You didn't agree with me, you just came up with your own justification as to why we should be quick about this." Lucas retorted.

"It's the same thing." Levi boredly responded as he had the other leg wrapped up in a bloody cloth, picking it up carefully as to get the least amount of blood on him as possible. "I've got this leg." He announced. "Hurry up Four-Eyes."

"Huh... sorry." She apologised, regaining her focus. "It's just the glasses, it looks like they were placed on the ground rather than fell, it's just... peculiar."

"There was only two sets of footprints leading directly here." Lucas told them. "It's most likely that Eren woke up right after transforming back into a human, picked them up and put them back down, wandered back and passed out from shock."

"Did you speak to him at all when you got back?" Erwin questioned him. "Was there anything to indicate that he remembered what happened here?"

"No, something like that would've scarred him, the only thing I could see in his eyes was hatred." He explained. "He's determined to kill all the Titans, idiot thinks he can actually do it." He snorted at the thought. "He tried to refuse the rations given to him by the residents here who are already suffering from food shortages, I would've forced that bread down his throat if my sister hadn't done it before I could."

"That's some sister you have." Mike chuckled. "Is she going to sign up as well, if she's anything like you..."

"While it may not be in my interest to have her sign up, she'll follow that idiot anywhere it seems like." Lucas sighed. "She'd probably follow him to the grave if I wasn't there to stop her."

"She seems quite devoted to him." Hange noted as she finished tying up the other leg. "I know he saved her, but still, you have to admire her dedication."

"I know how important that idiot is, but if he gets my sister killed or maimed, none of you will stop me from grinding every bone in his body into a spec of dust." He growled out menacingly. "By the time I'm finished with him, he'll be begging for me to let a Titan eat him."

"Erwin, she's not going in my squad." Mike instantly said.

"Not mine either." Hange added in, knowing that he would probably follow through on that threat.

"Just hurry up and come on." Lucas told them. "We need to get back before the legs rot too much to examine."

"Lucas is right." Erwin agreed with him. "We need to get back quickly and quietly, once Hange is finished her examination, we meet in my office again, is that clear?"

(Year 846, Scouts HQ)

"What do you mean there's nothing you can do?!" Lucas yelled, eyes blazing with anger, it was very rare to have him like this, but this was a special circumstance.

"I'm sorry Lucas, but it's out of my hands." Erwin responded. "I understand you don't want this to happen, but the Government has given the order for any refugee over the age of fifteen to be a part of the retake operation."

"Retake Operation? You mean Suicide Mission? We all know this is to lessen the impact of food shortages on those pigs in the interior!" He was seriously pissed off now. "I will not have my mother or Mrs Yeager be a part of this, I don't care what it takes."

"Lucas, I understand what it's like to lose a family member, but there's truly nothing I can do about this. My hands are tied."

"You can't possibly understand what it's like Erwin." He hissed at him. "My mother is one of the nicest people to ever live, so is Mrs Yeager, I will not let them be eaten so those pigs can stuff their faces with more food."

"There's nothing I can do." Erwin repeated. "Even if I wanted to, I don't have the authority to pull someone from this Operation, I may not agree with the methods they're using, but we're running out if food as it is, it simply had to be done."

Lucas balled his hands into fists, nails digging into his palms, he was furious that his mother had been drafted into the retake operation, Mrs Yeager had been as well, he needed them out, no, he wanted them out of it, but this was going nowhere.

"Fine." He hissed. "I'll go talk to someone who can actually help me." He spat, storming out of the room to go see the only person who could actually help him right now.

The next day after his argument with Erwin, Lucas had now arrived at the only place he could think to go that had a chance of getting his mother, and maybe even Carla out of the retake operation in a weeks time.

Once he entered the building, he slowly made his way to the room that the person that could help him was most likely staying in, they were basically his only hope, if they couldn't help him, he'd probably have to glue his mother and Carla together so he could keep an eye on them. It was either that or try and smuggle them out of Trost, which was a lot easier said than done, especially with the added security to make sure none of the drafted refugees could flee from their upcoming fate.

He doesn't need to knock on the door when he arrives, they probably wouldn't mind it if he just barged in, it's what he usually did after all, to him, knocking on the door and waiting was a waste of time, he could be doing something else more important rather than stand at someone's door like an idiot, but instead he knocks, and waits.

"Come in." The voice in the room sang out to him, unaware that it was him there, she sounded cheerful, but probably not for long. Steeling himself after he gripped the doorknob, he slowly pushed the door open to see Frieda sitting at her desk, brushing her black hair, catching a glimpse of him in the mirror, she smiled and turned to face him.

"Lucas, I didn't expect you to come by." She commented. "What brings you here? Aside from thd fact you just wanted to see me of course." She cheekily added in.

"I... I need your help." He managed to get out. "My mom was drafted into the retake operation next week, and I... I can't have her being there, so... I came to ask for your help."

Her eyes instantly softened at the mention of his mother being put out there, if he wasn't a sinner, then she couldn't be one either, she had to help him, no matter what it cost, besides, she wanted to meet his mother anyway, it would be nice to hear stories about Lucas when he was younger.

"What can I do to help?" She asked. "If there's anything you need, just say the word."

"They're only sending refugees out into Wall Maria, so that means that anyone that lives in a house in Trost is exempt from the drafting process." He explained to her. "I don't have the money to buy a house, so I... I was hoping that you could help." He requested. "I'll pay you back, whatever you want in return, I'll give it to you." He quickly added in before she could respond.

"You don't have to pay me back Lucas." She giggled at the sheer urgency in his voice to have her help soon. "What kind of girlfriend would I be if I didn't help my boyfriend out in his time of need?" She teased, getting a scoff of annoyance from him, but he then looked over to her again, eyes not portraying their usual boredom anymore.

"Thank you." He sincerely told her, letting emotion into his voice for once around her. "I mean it, thank you, it... it means a lot that you would help me out, especially after how I acted towards you..."

"It's alright Lucas." She brushed it off. "While your attitude can be... challenging sometimes, I know you don't truly mean the things you say, it's the things you do that matter." She said, taking a step towards him.

"Tch, don't try and get philosophical with me." He turned his head away from her and crossed his arms over his chest.

"How's Historia and Alma?" She asked, taking another step towards him, closing the gap between them.

"Historia is doing fine, I don't know the details but she does look geniunly happy for once in her life, as for Alma..." He trailed off, causing Frieda to raise an eyebrow at him. "She's a far cry from being the best mother in the world, but compared to what she was like before... I'd say she's not the worst anymore."

"She's still afraid, isn't she?" Frieda asked, knowing how terrified Alma had been her whole life after Historia had been born, she couldn't really blame her, especially after what happened after the fall.

"She is." He nodded in confirmation. "Although she doesn't look like she's going to shit herself at the appearance of me or anyone else, I can tell she's still afraid they'll try and find her, I try and reassure her nothing will happen, but there's only so much I can actually do."

"What about Historia's new name? Does anyone else know about it?" Frieda asked him.

"Only me and Alma know her new name." He reassured her. "It's a shame really, having to stick to a new name for what could be the rest of your life, I tell her to be herself, but she's far too nice for her own good, it's almost like she was taught that."

"It's better to be nice than to throw rocks back at people who throw them at you." She lightly chided him, stepping closer to him so that she could put her arms around his neck. "I just wanted her to have friends, it was bad enough it was only us before, shd needs people to count on."

"Tch, fine." He conceded, she may have a point, but he wouldn't admit that to her. "But don't blame me when every guy she meets starts to swoon over her, I already have to worry about keeping any leacherous boys away from my sister, I don't think I could be bothered beating all the boys that tried anything to her as well."

"I wouldn't worry about that too much." She smiled at his way of looking out for Historia. "I'm sure one look from Humanity's Strongest Soldier will send them running for the hills." She joked, using the moniker she knew he disliked, mainly because it was used to put him above his fellow soldiers, even if he was a Captain now, he still disliked it.

"If that's not enough, I could just as easily crack a couple bones into pieces." He dryly remarked. "Maybe then they'll learn why you should take the title seriously instead of taking it as a shitty pedestal to put me on."

She would've replied to that, but she was to enthralled by staring into his dark eyes, she loved staring into his eyes, unlike his facial expressions, she could read his emotions by looking into his eyes, it made her smile at knowing what he really felt at that moment, and she could see the slight happiness in his eyes, presumably because she had agreed to help him get his mother out of a probable death sentence.

"Are you just going to stare?" He rudely interrupted her thoughts as he caught onto what she was doing. "Don't you know it's rude to stare? Somebody should teach you how to be more _lady like_." He emphasised the words she had always told Historia when they would visit.

"Oh really?" She feigned hurt at his words. "But if I was a proper Lady, I wouldn't dare be seen fraternising with a lowly peasant such as yourself, I would have standards to keep."

"My heart throbs at your generosity." He deadpanned, but seeing her continue to stare, he decided to be blunt about it once again. "If you're going to kiss me, just do it, otherwise, I have to lea-"

He was prevented from finishing his sentence as she leaned forward and planted her soft lips on his, slowly moving them against his as he soon started to kiss back, at first they had both been inexperienced and it was a little awkward, but after a year of practice, they pretty much knew what they were doing.

As she pulled away, she used her teeth to tug on his bottom lip teasingly, signaling for them to go at it again, which he obliged, taking the lead this time, forcing his lips onto hers, it was the least he could do after what she had agreed to do for him.

As the continued to kiss, both of their eyes closed to take in the feeling of the kiss, he felt her tongue against his bottom lip, he had to resist the urge to smirk when he denied her tongue entrance, only to have one of her hands tug on his hair, which caused his lips to part involuntarily to let her tongue glide through into his mouth.

The first thing she could taste was mint when she entered his mouth with her tongue, it wasn't strong but it was definitely there, she could feel the taste getting stronger as her tongue brushed up against his, poking and prodding against it in an attempt to keep her own tongue inside his mouth.

While she had her tongue almost going down his throat, her left hand was in hair, scratching his scalp through his hair with her nails, eventually going back to lightly tugging at it in an attempt to get even the slightest moan, whimper or even a shudder out of him.

Unable to do so, she stepped up her game by tightening her grip in his hair slightly and forced his head to the side, allowing her to attack his nevk with bites and kisses, even pausing to suck on the part that she knew was most sensitive to him, causing him to inhale sharply and bite his lip hard to prevent any sound from coming out and encouraging her any further than he already was.

It was bad enough that he had encouraged her to do this by kissing her instead of letting her do it, or even leave after the first one, they had been able to keep their relationship a secret so far, but if they kept it up, somebody could walk in and ruin the secrecy had been decided on between the two young adults.

He had to keep himself calm when she tugged on his hair, he may have liked it when she did it, but that didn't mean she could do it every time they were together. The final straw was when he felt her right hand slowly gliding down his abdomen and stop at the top of his pants and fiddle with buckle of his straps.

Using his hand to grab her own and stop her, he pulled away from her, the light bite marks still visible on his neck alongside a bright red hickey where she had sucked hard on his neck.

"I didn't realise you were such a pervert." He breathed out, still breating hard from the kissing session they just had. "You're lucky I'm so nice, otherwise I would have used a whole other assortment of adjectives to describe your behaviour."

"Sorry." She apologised, smiling sheepishly at him. "I get carried away sometimes, and with you kissing me like that..."

"Tch, whatever." He turned his head away from her, trying to avoid her gaze. "I should get going now." He stepped away from her, but turned around to face her once again. "I meant it you know, if you want something from me, you just have to ask."

Blinking after he turned away, her eyes changed to their unusual purple streaks. "I might just have to take you up on that offer." She told him, a hand on her stomach as she blinked once again, her eyes changing back to normal once again.

 **A/N- Aplogies if the progression seems a bit slow, but I wanted to make sure the characters had some actual progression with their relationships, like with Hange and Lucas. Hange sees them as friends and he is her favourite test subject, while another female such as Frieda quite obviously views him as a lot more than 'just a friend'.**

 **But now Erwin, Hange, Mike and Levi are all in on the secrets held by Grisha for the past thirteen years he's been inside the walls, but interestingly enough, Lucas didn't seem to mention anything about Frieda or the real Royal Family.**

 **But now he's been promoted to Captain, unfortunately he wont be the only Captain Ackerman withinn the walls, but he will be in charge of Eren if that time comes around, all he has to do is pick four Scouts to join his squad, expect some different picks to the cannon Special Operations Squad.**

 **But I wonder what Frieda meant at the end right there? Was it significant or not? Only time will tell. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	9. Trouble in Paradis

It was the day of the Recovery Operation, where 250,000 people who were mostly refugees, while some others were drafted into the expedition to 'reclaim Wall Maria', although strangely enough, nobody from Wall Sina was drafted into the operation despite them consuming the most food and driving humanity into an even further food crisis than they were already in, what a fucking farce.

Those were the kinds of thoughts floating around in Lucas' head around an hour before the upcoming mass murder sanctioned by the Royal Government, but he was currently drinking tea that had been made by Carla at the home that he had recenty purchased for them to live in, albeit the funds were mostly from Frieda, but it didn't matter, as long as they were out of the operation, he was fine with it.

Aside from him, there were five people currently living in the house after they had moved in, Mikasa, his mother, Carla, Eren and Armin, who looked a lot like Historia from behind funnily enough, which was quite strange given that they were of the opposite sex.

Although Eren still hadn't given up on his hate filled quest to kill every Titan in existence, which was stupid and naive of him to think he could even accomplish that, it seemed like Carla was determined to keep him safe, no matter what it took.

"Lucas?" A voice brought him out of his thoughts, it was Carla who had spoke up to him. "I asked if the tea was alright, you just took a sip and started staring at the wall."

"It's fine." He replied, taking another sip of the tea, a bit bland but it would do for now. "Do you really think you can keep Eren on a leash like you've been trying to do?" He asked completely out of no where.

"Are you trying to say that I should let my son throw his life away by becoming fodder for the Titans?" She asked, her tone becoming dangerously low.

"Who said anything about being fodder?" He responded with a question of his own. "They don't sit on their ass for three years in the cadets, you do realise that they fo actually train soldiers to kill Titans."

"That doesn't mean I will willingly let him join the military." Carla retorted. "I'd rather have him safe than dead."

"Do you honestly think that you can stop him from doing what he wants?" He asked, swirling the tea in the cup. "Because the way I see it, you've deluded yourself into believing that if you persist, he'll give up on his stupid goal." He snorted at the thought of that idiotic idea Eren had in his head. "Killing every single Titan, what a fucking idiot."

"It's frustrating." She admitted to him. "It's like he doesn't listen to a word I say, I'm just trying to protect him." She sighed as she sat down at the table. "Have you found out anything about Grisha yet?" She asked, causing him to stiffen slightly, but she didn't seem to notice that.

"Nothing's changed since the last time you asked." He vaguely answered her question, he didn't like to lie to people who he somewhat cared for, so instead he opted for vague answers and half truths.

"I see." She sighed once again, putting her head in her hands. "Thank you for trying Lucas, but there's something I wanted to ask you, how were you able to pay for this house?" She asked. "Don't get me wrong, we're all grateful that you did, but I didn't think that you had the money to pay for a house."

"I had to ask someone to help out with the house." He replied. "She's well taken care of, so the money wasn't an issue for her, the issue is that I owe her now."

"A girl, huh?" A new voice asked from behind, it was his mother who had now entered the room along with Mikasa who had seen him earlier. "This wouldn't happen to be your secret girlfriend in the Interior, would it?" She teased.

"If by 'secret girlfriend' you're referring to Frieda, then yes, she was the one that helped pay for the house." He gave her an unimpressed look. "And before you start, no, we're not fucking, we're just friends."

"Watch your language when Mikasa's in the room Lucas." She scolded him for his unfiltered use of language.

"Tch, she hangs around with that idiot all day." He retorted. "She's bound to have a whole new vocabulary of words to use when she sticks by him so much."

"What did you say about me?!" Eren yelled across the room, clearly angered from the comments about him from Lucas.

"I said you were an idiot." Lucas glared at him, which cause Eren to flinch at the glare. "Didn't anyone teach you how to be grateful when somebody does something for you, especially after what happened a year ago." He narrowed his eyes at Eren in the process.

"I'm sorry." He apologised, shuffling his feet on the floor. "But mom still won't let me join the cadets next year!" He yelled out once again, if only this kid had a volume control of some sort attached to him. "She said she'd rather have me working on the reclaimed lands! I'm not some coward!"

"Valuing your own life doesn't make you a coward Eren." Lucas scowled deeply at the boy's ignorance. "It's only idiots like you that think you can actually make a difference that are the cowards, you think that if you throw yourself into danger that you're doing the right thing, but instead you're destroying the people around you that care about you."

"The world doesn't stop working when you die, it continues onwards, with or without you." Lucas continued on. "You could at least acknowledge the fact that there are people looking out for your safety, because if you do join the Scouts, people will always choose themselves over you, it's human nature to pick yourself to live over anyone else, you probably want me to say that I'm not like that, but to be honest, I'd be lying if I told you that."

The sound of the town bells ringing in the distance prevented anything else from being said between the ignorant child and Survey Corps Captain, it was time to assemble for the expedition.

"Thank you for the tea Carla." He stood up from the table and made his way to the door, but before he could leave, his nother and Mikasa both caught him in a hug which he had expected, and he didn't have the heart to break it, so he accepted it and hugged them back.

"You better come back." His mother whispered to him. "I know you usually do, but this is different, don't sacrifice yourself for us, it's not worth the heartbreak for us."

"Were you not listening to what I just said?" He asked, annoyed that she would think so little of him as to not come back.

"I was, but I know how you are." She poked his chest where his heart would be. "I know you would do anything for us, but dying for us is something I will not allow, I'd rather starve and have you alive, than live and not have you at all."

"You say this kind of mushy shit every time I have to leave, will you ever stop with it?" He asked, annoyed that she had basically pointed out his kindness to them all.

"As long as you keep coming back... no." She giggled at his anoyance. "You'll always be my baby boy, and I will always treat you as such." She declared.

"Tch, that's it, I'm leaving now." He pulled away from them both and walked out the door, prepared to do what was apparently necessary to humanities survival, although throwing the pigs who ate all the food into Titan territory probably would've been more efficient than 250,000 lower class citizens.

Thirty minutes later after the Titans had been led away from the outer gate of Trost District, it was slowly opened to allow the hordes of civilians that had gathered on the main road, flanked by Scouts, Garrison and MP members alike to make sure that nobody tried to get out of what they had been chosen for, this operation was supposed to reclaim Wall Maria, but most people suspected that they were being sent to their deaths, some accepted it as for 'the good of humanity', others were shitting themselves, while others were just hoping that they would make it back alive, albeit the chances were extraordinary low, but they still had some hope they would return.

While he was pondering thoughts about whether or not somebody would try and make a run for it at the last second, he saw an elderly man had stopped and was facing away from the outer gate, looking as if he was talking to someone, while Lucas wasn't completely heartless, he still had a job to do, regardless of whether or not it required him to act heartless.

"Hey! Grandpa!" He called out to the man who had taken off his straw hat and placed it onto somebody else's head. "Get a move on will you! I'd rather not have Titans enter the district because you took so fucking long to get going!"

The man turned around after what looked like some parting words to whoever it was he was talking to. After watching the man join the ranks of the thousands making their way out the gate and into Wall Maria territory, Lucas turned around curiously to see who he was talking to, only to lock eyes with the blue orbs of Mikasa and Eren's friend Armin Arlert.

After watching his only family left trudge away to what would surely be his death, Armin locked eyes with Mikasa's older brother, he had met him a few times. Armin had asked about the outside world often when they met, only to be met with a blunt and morbid answer about the only thing existing outside the Walls is death, it never put him off, until that day a year ago that is.

When he was staring at the man, Armin couldn't see any emotion on his face, it was like looking at a blank canvas, just ready to be painted on with a brush, but in his eyes, Armin could swear he saw a tad bit of sympathy in them, it was probably his way of conveying his emotions to others, being friends with Mikasa meant that he got good at reading people since she didn't really portray any emotions.

He then saw Lucas take his eyes off him and towards the other refugees, presumably so none of them could escape the impending fate that awaited them in Wall Maria.

That being said, when the expedition was over, less than 200 people who had left the Walls that morning had returned, the rest were either dead, being eaten, or had been left behind and were more than likely going to die, whether at the hands of a Titan or going out on their own terms, was entirely their choice.

A fifth of the population of the Eldian race living withing the Walls had perished in the expedition, but their ultimate sacrifice lessened the impact of famine on the rest of the surviving population, the Scouting Regiment was also given a new vote of confidence from the Reiss Noble Family at the latest Military budget meeting, stating that since Wall Maria had been lost, that it was vital that the land be regained in the future to allow for humanity to continue to survive.

Of course that was all bullshit, the real reason was that the true Queen of the Walls, Frieda Reiss had fallen head over heels in love with Humanity's Strongest Soldier, Lucas Ackerman, so mich so that she was willing to challenge the will of Karl Fritz for a gesture like funding the Survey Corps because she thought it would make him happy, but despite the constant outbursts and bouts of depression afterwards, she thought it was worth it.

She knew that she was his, and she knew that he knew that, what she didn't know was if he truly felt the same about her, it was gnawing at her, eating away at the back of her mind, doubts that he would stay with her, that their countless kisses were just some lust filled desire to keep him occupied while he was just using her because she kept the Scouts in a decent amount of funding.

But for all these doubts she had, she was also confident that her almost burning desire for him was reciprocated, because there was only so far that someone that was acting would go, even with someone as astoundingly beautiful as her. She had heard it all from people in the past, a perfect combination of beautiful, hot and sexy some would say, she could have had any man or woman on the island, but she chose Lucas Ackerman.

And while she knew that she was more attractive than a majority, if not all women within the walls, he would certainly give most men a run for their money. Based on looks alone he could have had any woman of his choosing within these walls. His body was also something that any woman would shamelessly gawk at given the chance, Frieda would be extremely surprised if she was able to find an ounce of fat anywhere on his body, because it was basically pure muscle, and not massive muscle. It was lean, thin muscle, which she thought made him look even hotter.

When they had met for the second time after failing to get her lingering thoughts about him out of her head after their first meeting, it started off as an attraction because he wasn't a sinner, it also helped that she was also physically attracted to him as well, but after two years of knowing him, she could confidently say that she was definitely in love with him. Despite his foul mouth and his seemingly endless insults, under that outer skin was someome who was genuinly a nice person when he wanted to be, he was basically a big brother figure to Historia, which Frieda greatly appreciated, even if he encouraged her to throw rocks at people, that was just his way of showing that he cared.

There was also the fact that he had saved Historia from being killed by Kenny and the rest of the First Interior Squad, not only that but he was trying to get Alma to have a decent relationship with her daughter, which was another thing she admired about him, he didn't have to, yet he did, all because she had asked to see him two years ago, she and Historia would both probably be dead if he hadn't been there.

But now she was in a dilemma, she was almost a hundred percent sure that she was in love with him, and she was pretty sure that he held some kind of affection for her beyond a simple friendship if all those heated and passionate kisses were to go by, but the problem was that she wanted to take their relationship to the next level.

Marriage was most likely not going to happen anytime soon, since he would have to change his name for the sake of inheritance, but if she couldn't get him to lie down on the bed so that she could straddle him, there was no way he would submit to a name change.

Pregnancy was another potential option for their relationship to progress, but that would require sex between the two, which he either had no interest in, but she didn't believe that at all since he was a male. The other option was that he was either nervous about it, or just shy deep down, she might have to give him a little kick to help with that, but if she got pregnant, she'd have to marry before the child was born, and she'd only marry Lucas, so that was another no go.

And considering that she had difficulty in getting him to even take his shirt off until recently when she initiated the contact between the two of them to get him going, she had a hard time believing that sex between them would come any time soon, but she was sure she could convince him, she wasn't the most powerful being on the planet for nothing.

Blinking away the unnatural purple from her eyes, she was confused for a second on what she was thinking about, until she realised that Lucas was coming by later this week, for a few days as well, she would have to make sure they have a good time.

(Wall Sina, 2 months after failed expedition)

To say that Lucas was stressed would be understatement of the century, he had no idea that watching a bunch of brats train to be soldiers would be such hard work, it also didn't help that he had to give notes to Erwin about the progress of the recruits, that wasn't even mentioning the likelihood of one of them being Titan's, which would be none by the way since this group enlisted before the fall.

Before he could rant anymore, he felt a soft hand on his shoulder bringing him out of his thoughts, getting him to breath out deeply when he felt her rub at the knots in his shoulders, relieving some of the tension.

"What are you doing?" He managed to get out without letting out a sigh in satisfaction, he wouldn't give her the satisfaction of hearing it.

"You looked stressed beyond belief." She innocently responded to his question. "And given how hard these knots in your shoulders are, I'd say you've been stressed out for a while." She continued the ministrations along his shoulders, making sure to rub her thumbs into his upper back.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to get into my pants." He deadpanned, while biting his lip even harder than he was. "Then again, you've been trying to do that since I saved you a year ago."

"I have not been!" She protested, digging her fingers even harder into his shoulder now. "It's not my fault I like kissing you."

"I think that it would be your own fault if you enjoyed kissing someone." Lucas pointed out for her. "To be honest, you're not that bad either, but I can exactly compare you to anyone, so I guess I'll never know how good I could have it."

"You're just a big softie." She stated, leaning her head down to rub her cheek against his. "If I had known that I would've been more forward."

"If you give me lice, I will rip your hairs on your head out one by one." He threatened now that their hair was mixing together.

"I'm not sure I'd be as attractive if I was bald, besides, I thought you liked my hair." She responded, pushing her head against his even more.

"I like your hair when it's clean." He retorted, unamused with her current actions of trying to mess with his hair. "I keep mine short because it's easier to keep clean that way, I'm sure you were the same when your hair was shorter than it was now."

"Do you like my hair shorter?" She asked, taking a lock of her own hair into her hands. "Or do you like it longer? Should I tie it up?"

Lucas grabbed a fistfull of her long black hair and pulled her head slightly away so that he could turn to face her and spoke. "If your hair wasn't this long, I would have trouble pulling it like I am now."

"It's considered quite rude to pull on a lady's hair." She said to him, lowering her voice to a whisper. "If I wasn't so nice, I'd have to punish you."

"If you wanted to fuck so badly, there are better ways to go about it than saying it's a punishment." He deadpanned while her face flushed red at his bluntness about the topic.

"You're so mean." She pouted at him, the redness still there on her cheeks.

He narrowed his eyes at her in response to her comment. "What are you gonna do about it, Your Majesty?"

Doing just as he asked, he stopped him talking by moving her head forward to connect their lips together, sucking and biting at his bottom lip as they kissed as payback for pulling at her hair while she moved around the chair and sat in his lap, effectively straddling him right now.

"That seemed to work just fine." She smirked as she pulled away ever so slightly, admiring the fact that his bottom lip was swollen from all the biting and pulling at it. "Who knew it would be so easy to make the great Captain Ackerman submit, all it takes is a pretty girl to shut him up."

"Shut your fucking mouth." He growled out, unable to take the fact that her breath was going against his face, so he quickly leaned in to kiss her this time, shoving his tongue through her lips before she had the chance to close them, slowly becoming more and more intoxicated by the taste.

He abruptly stood up and pulled away from her, causing her to stumble backwards into the desk behind her, but before she could get a word in, he lifted her up by the thighs and set her on top of the desk. With him standing in between her legs which had managed to wrap around his waist while he continued to massage her tongue with his. If she didn't know any better she would've thought he had been practicing with another woman with how good it felt for her.

She was glad that he wasn't wearing his ODM straps right now, otherwise any attempt to get those pesky clothes off of him would be a real task and a half, fortunately though he had already started to shrug off his jacket, so she responded by untucking his shirt from his pants, feeling the outlines of his hard muscles as her hands went under his shirt. She was positive that those abs were harder than any ODM blade ever crafted.

After the jacket was off, he had to pull away from her slightly to help her take his shirt off and throw it onto the floor of her room, before getting right back into it with her, the only difference was that she was using her nails to pleasure him, scratching and scraping them along his neck, chest, back, abs and his hair, leaving red scratch marks all over his body.

"Help me with this." She breathed out as she withdrew from the kiss for some breath, starting to undo the top buttons of her shirt, she expected him to help with the way things were happening, but she didn't expect him to stop her altogether. "What's wrong? Why did you stop me?" She asked, confused at his altering behaviour, it was like he was two different people at the moment.

"We can continue after we set some ground rules, okay?" He asked, to which she nodded, seemingly quite eager to continue. "Firstly, if you get pregnant, I will not quit my job at the Scouts or transfer to another Regiment. Secondly, if you do get pregnant and we have to marry so the child isn't an illegitimate one, I am not changing my last name to Reiss, I don't expect you to change yours, but I will not change mine."

"That's fine." She agreed with him. "We both agreed that I wouldn't try and talk you out of the Scouts anyway, so there's no problem there."

"I'm not done yet." He told her before continuing. "Every time we do have sex, we're both going to wash afterwards to get the sweat out of our hair, is that understood?"

"I think I can work with that." She agreed once more. "Anything else?"

"Yes actually..." He trailed off. "This needs to come off." He said, working away at the buttons at the bottom of her shirt as she smirked at went after the ones at the top, shedding the shirt after they had gotten the buttons undone.

"You're not half bad looking for someone who sits on their ass all day." Lucas remarked as he took in the sight of her body, there was little muscle showing, but she was actually quite toned, more so than he was expecting, probably a side effect of being a Titan Shifter.

"I'll have you know I do plenty of exercise and stretches." She retorted, pulling him closer against her, noses almost touching while only a small space of air seperated his nakes torso from hers.

"Sure you do." He remarked, leaning forward and missing her lips, only to start kissing her neck, gently running his tongue up and down while he sucked on the flesh, leaving multiple hickeys on the left side of her neck.

Not to be outdone, she pulled his head back and started biting and sucking on his own neck, earning a hiss out of him in response, it was a surprise that she hadn't drawn blood with the ferocity she bit his neck with, it was like she got off on trying to make him moan, which she hadn't been able to do yet, but she was sure that was about to change soon.

Reaching behind her own back to undo the strap on her bra, successfully getting it off with one hand while she was still kissing his neck and moving towards his collar bone, she tossed the bra aside and pulled herself even closer against him, her now exposed breasts and nipples rubbing up against his chest while she also pulled back from the kiss to speak to him.

"Take off my skirt." She urged him, lifting herself off the desk ever so slightly to allow him to get it out from underneath her. "It'll be much easier that way."

Obliging her words, he slid the skirt out from underneath her ass and down her legs, leaving her clad in only her black panties now, practically begging to be taken by the man right in front of her.

Moving forward to press his kiss swollen lips against hers once again while his hands felt up her bare thighs and legs, he would've put his hands further up, but he didn't want to come across as a typical horny teenage boy, he wasn't the type to just straight up ravage any female that stripped infront of him, unlike a certain person he could name.

Moaning into the kiss as he rubbed along her thighs, Frieda inched closer to him, desperate for some kind of contact between them, even his leg would do, she was practically begging to rub up against something, but she soon got her wish as she managed to move forward just enough to grind on his pelvis, making her moan even more into the kiss she was currently engaged in.

Pulling away once more and gazing into his dark eyes, she decided to ask him for something that she wasn't sure he would do, but decided to ask anyway.

"Could you... you know...?" She asked, trailing off as she looked down towards where their pelvic areas were pressed up against each other.

"... Fine." He agreed to it, much to her surprise. "But, if you squirt on my hair, I'll walk straight out of the room and into the shower, and that'll be it." He responded, giving her one last kiss on her lips before he started trailing kisses down her neck leading to her collarbone, then her shoulder.

Kissing further downwards to her breasts, where he missed them out on purpose to tease her, instead going in between them as he continued down to her naval, where he stopped and reached down to her ass and started pulling her panties off, having to lift her up to get them from out between her and the desk she was still sitting on.

Once they were off, now on his knees, he started working on her thighs, licking, biting and kissing the inside of each one while she had to settle for the occasional gasp or moan while he teased her, she was definitely going to return the favour soon.

Hesitating for a second when he turned his gaze straight ahead, his 'eyes on the prize', he then leaned forwards and kissed the top of her womanhood, using his tongue to roll around the flesh at the top, sucking and pulling softly at the flesh when she gripped his hair with her hands, trying to push him further in.

"Don't be such a tease." She moaned out as he slowed down, then wrapping her legs around his neck to keep him there. "Keep going." She urged, pushing his head further in.

Using his tongue once again, going lower this time and inserting it into her vagina, which caused her to grind softly against his face, clearly enjoying herself as she softly moaned out his name. Using his tongue to lick the inside walls, he searched for the spot on the anterior wall that would bring her the most pleasure. He wasn't an idiot, and despite it being the first time doing this, he had overheard plenty of stories from those horny teenagers about their 'experiences'.

"Shit!" She hissed as he used his thumb to rub against her clit as he continued to work his way around her insides with his tongue, pausing to repeat any actions that got any kind of reaction out if her.

"Are you sure this is the first time you've done this?" She asked, curling her toes and tightening her thighs against his head as another wave of pleasure came about. "I don't believe that for a second... Fuck!" She yelled as she felt her orgasm nearing, using her nails against his scalp and continuing to grind against his face.

After a few more minutes of what was a mixture of teasing on his part and actual work in her opinion, her orgasm was on the horizon, she was ready to cum on his face, she just hoped that she didn't squirt over his hair and ruin her chances of having actual sex with him, because waiting two years was surprisingly stressful, especially since she had decided to save herself in case he wanted to do it.

"Shit Lucas!" She exclaimed after a few more seconds. "I can feel it coming..." She trailed off, feeling her muscles start to contract as her breathing became heavier, her heart pounding against her ribcage.

"Fuck." She whispered, barely loud enough for him to hear, then she felt her mucles contract again, a massive wave of pleasure going through her body, moaning out his name as her toes curled hard, her grip on his hair tightening as her thighs clenched around his neck, grinding hard against his face in an attempt to prolong her orgasm.

Unwrapping her legs from aroung his neck and releasing his hair from her grip to allow him to stand back up, she leaned back on the desk, relishing the coolness the mirror brought to her bare back which was now covered in a thin layer of sweat.

After a few moments of rest, she wordlessly pushed him away from the desk, and got down, standing a few centimetres above him, she guided him backwards to the edge of her bed where she sat him down and started to work on getting his boots off and pants off so she could show him a good time.

"You seem quite eager to get my pants off." He remarked, running a hand through his hair after she got his boots off. "You sure you're a proper lady?" He asked, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Be quiet and let me help you now." She told him, managing to unfasten his pants as she started to pull them off. "I've heard that sex is a great stress reliever, hopefully it goes both ways."

"Tch, you sound like a horny teenager." He scoffed at her. "I already deal with enough of those on a daily basis, what makes you-" He was cut off as her hand made its way into his boxers, wrapping her fingers around his cock and slowly abd teasingly stroked him, practically ripping his boxers off with her other hand.

"What was that Lucas?" She teasingly asked, still going slow with her strokes, leaning up to his face. "You like it when I do this?" She whispered against his face, leaning in to kiss his swollen lips, managing to taste herself on him given that his tongue was inside her less than two minutes ago.

Pulling away after losing her breath, almost intoxicated with the mixture of tastes in his mouth, she pressed her lips against his neck, teasing him both high and low, feeling him shudder against her as she sucked hard on his neck in multiple places, leaving a hickey on each part she placed her lips upon.

Moving across his throat with light feather kisses, leaving behind some saliva after she licked his adams apple, she started sucking on the other side of his neck, giving each side her undivided attention, while at the same time softly tracing the six year old claw marks on his chest with her left hand, since her right hand was still stroking him at a teasingly slow pace.

"You're such a fucking tease." He growled out from his sitting position as she movee her kisses down to his chest, making sure to kiss each scar on the way down. "I'm going to leave if you- Fuck!" He yelled as she bit down on his nipple.

"What the fuck was that for?" He asked, his nipple still in between her teeth as she rolled it in her teeth and pulled on it, letting it go as she decided to respond.

"That was for not doing it to me." She smirked at him. "And given how I felt your dick throb in my hands right now, I would say that you liked it."

"Tch, shut the fuck up." He demanded, she wasn't wrong in a sense, there was some sense of pleasure coursing through him when she did that.

After she had finished biting both of his nipples, getting another round of cursing from him, she moved downwards, using sloppy, hot and open mouthed kisses on his abdomen, making sure to give each muscle a kiss as she moved downwards, purposely dragging her tongue down past his naval, leaving a line of spit on his stomach.

Now with her 'eyes on the prize', she used her tongue to lick the underside of his cock from the base to the tip, taking a morale boosting victory at the face Lucas was making, his eyes closed tight and his teeth pressed hard to his bottom lip, preventing any sounds from escaping.

"I won't make fun of you if you moan Lucas." She told him, kissing the side of his dick all the way down this time. "It just lets me know what I should do more of." She kissed his head now, preparing to take ut into her mouth. "That way there will be more pleasure for both of us."

"Shut. Up." He demanded of her once again. "If you stop, then there definitely won't be any moaning, from me or you." He warned, seeing that she had paused for a second.

Smirking at him in response, she took his head into her mouth and swirled her tongue around the head. Surprisingly enough, it didn't taste as bad as she thought it would, when they had sex again, this was an option she was now open to trying again.

"Fuck." He whispered. "Why the fuck does that feel good?" He asked, not expecting an answer, but instead she pulled her mouth away and spat on his dick, using her saliva as a lubricant as she stroked him faster than before.

"Maybe you would know if you weren't so unapproachable." She teased him as he breathed out heavily again at her touch. "I count myself lucky I've gotten this far with you, after all, you always seemed to shoot the idea of sex down when we got into it."

"Fortune favours the bold Frieda." He replied, trying his best not to let out a gasp in pleasure as she wrapped her lips around his wet cock again, making sure to release it with a loud pop once she needed air again. "I wanted to see if it was what you really wanted, and not that pervert that lives inside your head." He explained. "Far too many time your eyes change when you try to take my clothes off, this was one of the times they haven't."

"Okay then." She said as she stood up, as she felt that they were both lubed up enough for their flesh not to burn if they went fast enough.

She sat down in his lap, with his erect cock rubbing up against her ass, their breaths mixing with another, she leaned in to kiss him, only for him to pull away.

"That is not happening." He told her. "I am not going to kiss you right after you pulled your mouth off my dick, I'd rather pour bleach down my throat."

Catching him by surprise as she gripped his cock once again, rubbing it up and down as she lifted herself off her lap slightly, putting it against her entrance and then slowly taking it inside her, taking his full length after a few seconds, gripping her hands on his shoulders to keep herself steady.

"Oh god..." She trailed off, surprised at the discomfort and surprising lack of pain, her hymen had probably already broken she thought. "Give me a moment... It's a little uncomfortable right now." She told him, getting a nod in affirmation from the black haired man who was technically underneath her, while they were both sitting up, she was on top.

Once the discomfort had stopped altogether, she gave an experiment roll of her hips to see how it felt, taking a small amount of pleasure from it, she repeated the action once more, feeling that same pleasure as she felt Lucas put his hands on her hips, helping her with her grinding as they got into a steady rhythm.

"It feels good." She moaned out to him as they continued their rhythm, gradually getting faster as they continued. She desperately wanted to kiss him again, to make the moment even more passionate than it currently was, but he obviously didn't want to taste his own cock on her mouth. She could either settle for his neck, or risk it and go for his mouth, and run the risk of him potentially leaving midway through, she wouldn't put it past him to do that if she crossed a line.

"Fuck it." She said, deciding to just go with his lips, gripping his shoulders tightly and forcing her mouth upon his, her tongue invading his mouth as she rocked against him, it felt so good having him inside her with her being in control at the moment.

"That's fucking disgusting." He spat as she pulled away for some breath, spitting on the bed sheets in disgust. "I'm going to need Levi to bleach my mouth later." He muttered, setting his eyes on the beauty on his dick. "Didn't I say not to do that?" He asked, tone dangerously low.

"You did." She confirmed. "But I didn't listen." She added in.

He caught her by surprise as he fell backwards onto the bed, taking her with him and rolled over, leaving him on his knees and her underneath him on her back, still connected to each other.

"I'm in half a mind to just leave after that." He warned her, grasping her hips with his hands, making sure she wouldn't be able to wiggle free as he pulled back. "But I get the feeling that you'd be pissed if I just got up and left." He thrusted back into her, getting a gasp out of her. "Even I know you shouldn't piss a woman off, especially one like yourself." He pulled back and thrusted inside her again.

"Fuck me..." She breathed out, unable to keep the words in after the pleasure emanating from her core after two thrusts, she could only imagine how good he would be after some experience.

Thinking quickly, she grabbed a pillow from the head of the bed and set it underneath her back, slightly elevating her to give him a better angle to thrust, sometimes it was good to have the memories of each of your ancestors at your fingertips, most of the time it was less than pleasant though.

"Oh god Lucas!" She moaned out as he continued to move in and out of her, the pillow working absolute wonders in terms of him hitting her sweet spot, it also helped that he leaned down and returned the gesture of biting nipples, softly biting the erect nub and twisting it with both his teeth and lips, which got yet another squeal out of her.

"It feels so good!" She moaned again, unable to contain herself anymore, but if she wasn't careful someone passing by could easily hear them going at it, especially if she kept moaning like she was at the moment.

"Shit, I didn't realise that having sex felt this good." Lucas admitted, given that it was his first time it was a surprise he knew how to please her so easily, but given that he told her once that his body did exactly what he wanted, she wouldn't be surprised if he could go at it for hours on end. "I still wouldn't have bothered with it, but it would've been nice to know anyway."

After a few more minutes of him pumping his hard cock into her at a relatively fast pace, occasionally kissing her neck, breasts or any part he could get his lips to, he could feel himself getting close, he could easily guess as he had to try even harder to hold it in than before, but Frieda on the other hand had no intention of holding it in, she wanted to cum, badly.

"I can feel it." She told him, wrapping her legs arounf his waist to keep him in place, hoping that he would take the hint to not pull away, not when she needed the stimulation. "Harder!" She half yelled half squealed in pleasure as he kept at it, going harder as she requested.

"Oh shit Lucas, I'm going to cum soon." She told him, gripping the bedsheets in an attempt to hold onto something since his hands were occupied at the moment, holding her relatively still as he continually thrusted into her anterior wall, hitting just the right spot for her.

"Fuuuuuck!" She yelled as her vaginal muscles clamped down on his cock, attempting to further her orgasm by bucking against him, making it feel even better than before. "Oh god, oh god, oh god." She repeated as he continued with his stimulation, forcing her to tighten her kegs around him even further, any harder and it could crack his spine.

"I'm about to cum Frieda." He told her. "Unless you want to go through fifteen hours of labour in nine months, I suggest you let me go." He suggested, he could easily break free, but not without hurting her physically in some way.

"Just chance it." She told him, trying to fuck him back as hard as she could. "I would rather have a child with you than anyone else."

"You're fucking insane." He told her, droplets of sweat on just about every part of their bodies. "But I can't hold it in anymore... Fuck!" He yelled as he ejaculated all over her insides, abruptly coming to a stop as he felt her clamp down once again after he came.

Once he pulled out of her, he flopped down on the bed beside her, who knew having sex would be so tiring? Glancing over to her, he noticed that she seemed to be sweating more than he was.

"I think you should shower first." He said as he caught his breath. "You look like you need it more than me." He told her. "And I did all the fucking work." He mumbled out as he closed his eyes, resting them for a moment.

Instead of getting up to shower like he suggested, she instead snuggled up to him, putting her sweaty head under his chin and wrapping her naked body around his, giving out a sigh of happiness as she did.

"Just for five minutes." She requested before he could get a word out. "Your Queen demands at least five minutes of cuddling after sex, it would be rude for one of us to leave right after we finished."

"You can have three." He countered as he wrapped his arms around her bare back. "And I've already started counting."

Smiling as she heard him say that, she decided to be a bit bold, although it was quite obvious to anyone that watched them for a period of time about how she felt about him, she had never said it aloud.

"I love you Lucas." She said to him, feeling his arms stiffen around her after she had said it.

"Yeah, I know you do." He replied, relaxing his arms after that sudden declaration from her, it was obvious, but he didn't think she would ever say it to him, but it was... nice to know that she really did care about him.

She didn't expect him to say it back, she knew he cared about her, maybe even loved her, and that was good enough for her.

(Winter, 846)

It was the annual Winter Gala that was held in the interior every year, something about celebrating another year of peace, or rather, one year of peace since the attack last year, but it seemed like the Nobles pretended like it didn't happen at all.

It was the Reiss Family's turn to host this year, so of course the eldest daughter needed a date to the Gala to look the part. Obviously she chose Lucas to be her date, because there was no one else in her mind she would even consider.

Speaking of Frieda, apparently she wasn't pregnant. She told him two weeks after their night together that she had her period, but given that stupid purple colour came back into her eyes, he wasn't convinced, but she didn't seem to be developing a baby bump yet, so he was leaning towards the not pregnant side of things.

Of course it was a formal event, with all the Nobility attending, some members of the Royal Government and Premier of the Military Darius Zackly in attendance. He was supposed to wear a suit and tie, but decided that he would amuse himself by wearing his Scout uniform to see how many Nobles he could piss off just by being there, and given the fact that one tried to have him thrown out the moment he entered, he could tell it was clearly working.

Lucas found the hateful and disgusted looks that many of the Nobles and officials were sending him to be quite amusing, one would think that they would be grateful to someone who risks their life to kill monsters that could eat them with minimal effort, but apparently they thought the Scouts were a waste of taxes, but since they were backed by a powerful Noble Family, nothing could be done about the increased funding they recieved.

Needing a break from pissing off the Nobles with just his presence, and still trying to avoid Frieda since the last thing he needed was unwanted attention from her introducing him as her date, he went off to find someone who he could hold an actual conversation with. Darius Zackly seemed to fit the bill, so he went up to him once he was alone, took the wine glass out of his hand and downed it in one go.

"That was my drink- Captain Ackerman?" Zackly questioned after seeing who it was who had stolen his drink. "What are you doing here?"

"If you were going to drink it, you wouldn't have spent the last half an hour just holding it." Lucas replied. "But to answer your question, I was invited here Darius."

"I'll let it slide this time since we're out in public Captain." Zackly warned him. "But you need to adress me as Premier as a sign of respect to your superiors for future reference."

"Or what? You'll throw me in prison for insubordination?" He mockingly asked. "No offence Darius, but we both know that I'm too valuable to just rot in a cell for any amount of time."

"I'm not going to confirm or deny that claim Captain." Zackly responded, slightly irritated with Lucas' attitude. "But I do find myself wondering how you were invited to this gala, it's supposed to be for the richest and highest ranked only."

"I'm here because somebody wanted me as their date." Lucas simply explained, while Zackly looked at him in confusion, Captain Ackerman got a date? There was no way, the man was far too stubborn to even look at a woman were some of the rumors floating around. "Plus there was the opportunity to express my hatred for these pigs while I'm here, it probably would've been more efficient sending them into Wall Maria rather than 250,000 people who barely got to eat."

"There's no way to find out though is there?" Zackly responded. "What's done is done, and while it may have been wrong on so many levels, it was necessary for us to survive."

"You're starting to sound like them Darius." Lucas looked at him in the corner of his eye. "You should make sure their greed and corruption doesn't infect you too, otherwise humanity will lose any hope they currently have in the future."

"What are you talking about Captain?" Zackly questioned him. "Why would my position be a symbol of hope in the future?"

"You'll find out." Lucas cryptically responded. "You'll find that hope is the one thing you can't buy with money in this world, without hope there's no point in trying, if you don't try, you lose... and if we lose, we're all dead."

Zackly looked at him strangely for a few seconds, he had never heard Captain Ackerman speak like that, he mostly followed Erwin around and let him do the talking while he stood there, looking like he was trying to stab people with his eyes.

Everyone's attention was brought to the centre stage, where Frieda Reiss was tapping a glass with a knife to get their attention, catching a glimpse of Lucas standing next to a confused looking Premier Zackly, she took a deep breath before she began.

"First of all, I would like to thank you all for attending this years Winter Gala hosted by the Reiss family." She thanked them, getting a round of applause from the others in attendance. "I would also like to thank you all for putting up with Captain Ackerman and his antics tonight, I invited him here tonight because I wanted you all to see how other people who live in Wall Rose and those who lived in Wall Maria view us."

She took another deep breath before continuing. "After what was done a few months ago to ensure that the rest of humanity didn't perish as a result of food shortages, it's clear that the divide between the citizens of Wall Sina and those of Wall Rose is greater than ever, and if we want to continue to live in peace, we need to lessen this divide that seperates us."

Looking over to Lucas once again, she could see him whispering something into Zackly's ear, sighing internally, she continued.

"That is why the Reiss Family is proud to announce, that once a year, part of the food reserves of the Royal Family will be donated to areas that are suffering the worst from famine and poverty in an attempt to bring both sides closer together." She announced, gaining another round of applause from the crowd.

"There is one more thing though." She said as the applause died down. "I wasn't going to do this here, but the news was going to get out anyway, so I thought I might as well just say it once to get it over with." She took a breath to compose herself, then opened her mouth and said it aloud. "I'm pregnant!"

Through the pure silence of the room, most people stared at her in shock, especially the other members of the Reiss Family, but there was a loud crash which sounded like a glass had broken on the floor.

Taken out of his shock by the sound of the broken glass, Rod Reiss whirled around and quickly scanned the crowd for Lucas, finding him at the source of the sound, with fury in his eyes he started charging towards him. "You bastard!"

 **A/N- The longest chapter yet! It would've been finished earlier, but I had to finish my... research for this chapter. What a way to end though! It turns out he did get her pregnant, even after she lied to him about it, where's the honesty in the relationship? I wonder how Rod will go about his rage though, will he hit him? Or will he crumble after Frieda inevitably steps in? Will she step in? Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	10. Commitment

"I'm pregnant!"

Right after the words left Frieda's mouth, Lucas felt the glass in his hands slip through his grip, falling to the ground as he stared at Frieda in shock. Once the glass hit the floor, it shattered, startling most of the people in the room, especially Zackly since he was right next to him.

"You bastard!" Rod seethed from the other side of the room, storming over towards him, shoving him backwards into a table once he had reached him.

Snapping out of his stupor, Lucas looked to see that Rod was right in his face, looking like he was about to blow up in pure rage and anger. Seeing that Rod was not about to give up, Lucas scowled deeply at him as Rod continued to berate him.

"It was bad enough that you kept coming back after the first time you met her!" He hissed at him. "I put up with it because I thought she would get over her obsession with you eventually, but I now realise that I should've done something earlier."

"Coming from the guy who's shit scared of his own daughter." Lucas scoffed. "You didn't do anything because you don't have the balls to do anything. Maybe if you spent less time fucking about with women you're not married to, you wouldn't have that problem." He sneered at him.

"You insolent brat!" Rod hissed at him. "You're nothing more than a commoner from a disgraced family! And you have the nerve to get my eldest daughter pregnant?! I should've gotten rid of you long ago!"

"So what if I did get her pregnant? You're not gonna do anything about it." Lucas retorted, glaring right at Rod. "You do realise that if she didn't want it she would've gotten rid of it, I'm sure that's something that you're familiar with."

In an act of pure rage, Rod balled his hand into a fist and took a swing at Lucas, catching him across his cheek. Surprised that Rod had grown a set of balls, Lucas let a half smirk make it's way onto his face.

"You really shouldn't have done that." Lucas told him, spitting the small amount of blood in his mouth onto his suit, staining his white shirt with blood and spit. "Now you've given me a reason to get angry."

"You bastard! This suit probably cost more than your damn house!" He yelled at him, examining the stain caused by Lucas. "You're going to pay-" He was cut off from talking as he felt a fist hit him in the gut, causing all the air to leave his lungs as he struggled to breathe.

"It's not so nice when someone hits back, is it?" Lucas sneered, standing above the kneeling Rod, before leaning down to whisper in Rod's ear so that only he could hear. "Maybe I should let you feel how exactly Alma felt for the past eleven years, fearing for your own life, because there's nobody here that can stop me."

"Stand down Captain Ackerman!" Zackly ordered him as Lucas brought Rod up to his feet. "It will only get worse for you if you continue, so I suggest you drop him and leave."

Lucas turned to face the Premier of all three Regiments, a dead look on his face, but his eyes were fired up. "How about you make me." Lucas replied to Zackly. "If you wont, I'll show Rod that every action has an equal and opposite reaction."

"You'll be in prison by the end of the night boy." Rod jested right before he recieved another punch to the gut, causing him to start wheezing. "What about your kid, huh? How are you going to be there when it's born if you're rotting away in prison?"

"Are you really going to lecture me about being there for my kid?" Lucas asked in disbelief. "This coming from the guy who tried to hide away his illegitimate daughter on an estate you own up north, and then trying to use the panic created by the Titan invasion to make her and your mistress disappear?" Lucas said aloud, meaning that anyone who was in earshot heard it.

"That's not true." Rod denied it. "You're just trying to make me look bad so you can justify your actions." He explained out loud for everyone to hear.

"Don't make me laugh pig." Lucas glared at him. "It wouldn't surprise me if everyone in this room knew about your habits of fucking the maids at your manor."

"You're making a fool out of yourself boy." Rod retorted. "These people will believe me before they even listen to a commoner like you."

"That's funny." Lucas said, tightening his grip on Rod's shirt and hoisted him off the ground with his left arm and cocked his right arm back. "How is a corpse gonna talk?"

Right before his arm flew forward to hit Rod, he felt a smaller and softer hand on his fist, he knew exactly who it was. Frieda had stopped him from giving Rod a taste of his own medicine, why exactly he would never know, how on earth could she still treat him with respect after what he did, not just to her and the others, but Historia and Alma as well?

"What?" He spoke, looking at Frieda instead of Rod. "I'm in the middle of something here."

"I can't let you do this to him Lucas, because despite how much you may think he deserves this, it won't change anything." She said to him, she didn't look angry at all, she was just trying to calm him down.

"Tch, fine." Lucas relented, dropping Rod who then collapsed to the floor in need of breath. "Killing him isn't worth the hassle, at least not right now it isn't."

"There's a room behind the stage, number three, wait there for me." She instructed him. "I'll deal with father right now, we have to discuss some things when I'm finished with him."

"Whatever." Lucas muttered, stalking off behind the stage to where she had told him to go, while she dealt with her father.

"Frieda!" Rod yelled at her. "Do you even realise what you've done! This is an outrage-"

"Not. Another. Word." Frieda silenced him, her eyes changing to their unnatural purple colour. "It is not your decision as to who I choose to have a child with, or if I have a child at all." She told him. "This is my decision, not yours."

"Frieda, you're making a mistake with this." Rod protested. "What happens when he dies? Who's going to take care of the child then?"

"It won't come down to that father." Frieda assured him. "But even if it does, I'm sure his mother would be happy to take care of her grandchild, because I'm not so sure you would take care of my child right now."

"Of course I would! It's my grandchild too!" He yelled back. "But your choice of father is abysmal, he'll probably be dead before the child is born. That idiot thinks they can beat the Titans."

"If I may interrupt this fantasic family moment." Zackly intruded on their conversation. "I'm more interested in whether or not Captain Ackerman's words about your alleged illegitimate ring true, care to comment Lord Reiss?"

"I think you've overstayed your welcome Premier Zackly!" Frieda hissed at him, her entire iris turning purple now. "Why don't you and the other sinners here forget about this and make yourself scarce!"

"Yes Miss Reiss." Zackly complied with her words. "I will gather up the other sinners and we will all leave." He said, turning around to gather up all the others who looked to be in a daze, escorting them out of the building, while Frieda and her father moved behind the stage where nobody could overhear them.

"Shit." Frieda muttered to herself, her mood swings were definitely a lot worse than they should be, she then turned to her father. "Father, I am having this child, whether you like it or not." She told him, he was about to protest but she cut him off. "I would appreciate it if you at least tried to get along with Lucas, because we're getting married next month whether you like it or not. I will not have my child labeled as a bastard child because you hold a petty grudge against their father."

"He hates me, and there's no way that's ever going to change." Rod sighed, seeing that there was no way he was going to be able to convince her otherwise.

"Not to be rude, but that's your own fault." Frieda said. "And I'm pretty sure there is a way for him to hate you even less, but I doubt he'd ever tell you where Historia is."

"He knows where Historia is?" Rod asked in disbelief. "Kenny said that she was dead, why didn't you say anything about it? Do you know where she is?"

"He wouldn't tell me where she is because he knows that I would try to visit her again." She explained. "And I didn't say anything because I assumed that Kenny told you what happened, but I guess not."

"So how am I supposed to get him to not hate me?" Rod sarcastically asked. "I'm going to be his father in law, and he did try and beat me to a pulp earlier, I'm not sure what I'm supposed to do."

"You'll have to figure that out on your own." Frieda told him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have to find Lucas and have a chat with him." She excused herself to find Lucas in the room she told him about.

Lucas watched her enter the room from the other side, his gaze not leaving her as she ended up a few steps away from him, seemingly afraid to come any closer.

"You lied to me." He said with a straight face, not betraying any emotions that he was feeling. "I asked you if you were pregnant last month, and you straight up lied to my face."

"I did, and I'm sorry for that." She hung her head in shame, unable to meet his gaze. "I didn't know how to tell you... I just wanted you to stay with me, I was afraid that you would leave because it would be easier to do."

"You say that as if me leaving would be easier than staying with you." He pointed out. "Do you really think that little of me that I would stay in a relationship with you just because you fund the Scouts?" He asked her, looking right at her. "If I didn't want to be here, I wouldn't be, and there's no amount of money or persuasion that could change that."

"Does that mean that you won't leave me?" Frieda asked, tears threatening to spill out of her eyes.

"Are you hard of hearing?" He asked, annoyed that he had to repeat himself. "That's what I just said. You should really get your ears- ugh." He groaned as Frieda practically threw herself at him, hugging him tightly as she rested her head against his.

"I'm so glad to hear that." She said, the pitch of her voice indicating that she was crying. "That makes me so happy that you're going to stay." She pulled back to look into his eyes, having to look slightly downwards to look directly into them. "I love you Lucas, I love you so much." She told him, leaning in to kiss him, forcing her tongue into his mouth to show him just how much he meant to her.

Pulling away with a smile on her face, and a slight blush on her cheeks, she was so tempted to kiss him again but she restrained herself, there was other things that they needed to talk about.

"I assume that you know that we have to get married." She said, getting a silent nod from him in response. "Good, because the wedding will be next month, but it won't be a normal wedding per say, it will be a traditional wedding that is used only by the Reiss Family."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm not going to like this?" He asked rhetorically.

"If you remember back to what me and my family were wearing last year the night the wall fell, that's what we'll be wearing." She told him. "Everyone else there will also be required to wear it as well, it's a well kept tradition in our family."

"You're making it sound like I'm joining a cult." He deadpanned. "The Wallists are bad enough, I don't want to join a different cult."

"It's not a cult, it's traditional." She scolded him. "Besides, I'm sure your mother will be delighted to see you getting married next month."

"You mean she's going to be invited? For fucks sake." He muttered to himself, his mother and Frieda talking to each other was a recipe for disaster.

"Only your immediate family can attend, so your mother and sister will be find to attend, as long as they wear the traditional clothing that is." She assured him.

"I feel so much better that my mother who is constantly asking for grandchildren, is getting to meet the girl I got pregnant, how wonderful." He said, voice brimming with sarcasm.

"You make it sound like your mother isn't as nice as I thought she would be." Frieda chided. "And you didn't have to make it sound like it was all your fault, I was the one who suggested that you... you know..."

"You're the one who suggested that I cum inside you, yeah, that was your idea." He responded, keeping a straight face while she looked embarrassed about it. "Probably not your best idea, especially considering you'll have to give birth, I hear it's quite painful."

"I don't regret it." She told him, taking one of his hands and placing it on her stomach, where he could feel a small bump forming. "We created this miracle of life growing inside me together, no matter if they're a boy or girl, or whether they have your eyes or mine, we'll still love them, and I know for a fact that you'll be a great father for our child."

"I'm not sure about that." He admitted to her, unconsciously keeping his hand on her stomach. "I wouldn't be able to spend a lot of time with you or the kid, I'm already pushing it with the amount I visit already, I do have an actual job to do you know."

"I know that Lucas, but I still think you'll be a fantastic father for our child either way." She insisted. "And for what it's worth, I'll make sure that they know that their dad loves them very much, even if you have a hard time showing it."

After a few moments of internally debating, Lucas decided 'fuck it' and wordlessly pulled something out if his back pocked and put it into Frieda's hand. "If you don't want it then just say no, it won't hurt my feelings."

Opening her hand to see the small object he had placed inside, her eyes went wide after she had seen what it was.

"Lucas, where did you get this?" She asked, still examining the object, with a glint of happiness in her eyes.

"It was my mother's if you must know." He told her, slightly anxious to see what her answer would be. "I still need an answer though, if you're afraid of hurting my feelings, don't be, I'm sure I could handle a little rejection every once in a while."

"No, I love it. I absolutely love it." She told him, wrapping him in a hug once again. "If you don't mind me asking, how long has you mother had this ring?" She asked.

"My dad gave it to her when he proposed to her." He explained. "She then gave it to me a month after Wall Maria fell, she said I should give it to the woman I was going to marry." He told her. "The only upside is that I didn't have to get down on one knee."

Pulling back so she could see him again, still looking rather bored to anyone else that could see him right now, but she could see the glint of happiness in his eyes, even if only a little, it still meant a lot that she could see it.

"Could you at least put it on for me?" She requested, holding out her left hand and the ring for him. "It wouldn't be the same if you didn't put the ring on my finger."

"Tch, lazy woman." He shook his head as he rudely snatched the ring out of her hand and grabbed her left hand, where the ring finger was outstretched. "Can't even put a ring on without any help, don't you have servants to do this sort of shit for you?" He asked, sliding the ring on her finger.

The ring was cheap given the standards that she had experienced throughout her whole life living as a Noble in the innermost wall, but given that he lived in Wall Maria throughout his whole life, it was probably very expensive for them. Even then he had chosen to give something that his mother had given him for something like this, which she knew he would take seriously.

From what she had gathered, he was extremely protective over his mother and sister, it was most likely because of their heritage. He had told her about the attempted kidnapping incident back in 844 after meeting a few times, he didn't know it at the time, but she did everything she could to help keep them safe, even if it meant threatening a few nobles that she knew had an... exotic taste, she did it all for him. And what he had just put on her finger was a sign of what she meant to him, and that he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon. Even if he didn't like expressing his emotions, she knew he had them, and she knew that a part of him loved her, and that was enough for her.

"Are you even listening?" His question brought her out of her own thoughts. "Tch, I asked if the ring fit properly." He repeated so she could hear him.

"Yes, it's... perfect." She smiled at him once again, seemingly unable to contain her happiness.

Biting her lip as she looked at him again, she couldn't contain herself as she pushed her shorter fiancé up against the wall next to them. "If I wasn't already pregnant with your child..." She trailed off as she bit his earlobe and pulled on it. "I definitely would be after the night we're going to have." She huskily whispered into his ear, then proceeding to take his head into her hands as she pressed her lips to his, intent on conveying how much she loved and appreciated him.

(Scouts HQ)

He had only been back for half an hour before he had been summoned to Erwin's office, he had an idea of what it could be about, but given that Frieda had implied that she had erased everyone's memories at the gala after he had asked about what happened after he left Rod crumpled on the floor.

Opening the door as he arrived without knocking as he usually did, not usually caring about what was on the other side, there had been a few occasions where he had walked in on some new recruits going at it to 'relieve stress' as they had explained, but after learning a bit more than he cared to about his male and female subordinates, he found that the best way to relieve stress was to have them run till they drop, it didn't make him a popular officer, but he didn't give a shit, he only cared if they would do their jobs, which they couldn't do if they were too busy fucking each other when at the HQ.

Looking into the room, hoping to see that Erwin was the only one there, he was put off slightly as he saw Hange, Mike and Levi all there as well. He definitely knew what this was about now, especially after seeing the newspaper on the desk.

"Lucas." Erwin greeted, no emotion showing in his voice. "Have a seat."

Once Lucas sat down across from Erwin, it was Levi who spoke up this time. "You fucked up." He told him. "Literally." He added in, only irking Lucas even more.

"Care to explain this?" Erwin pushed the newspaper across the desk. The main headline was about the donations of the Royal Food Reserves, but the sub-headline read, 'Eldest Reiss Daughter Pregnant! Humanity's Strongest The Father?'. "Rather interesting headline, wouldn't you say so?"

"I don't have to explain to you what I do in my free time Erwin." Lucas retorted, refusing to meet Erwin's gaze. "Quite frankly, it's none of your business, even if it is my kid."

"You realise this puts you in a position where the Royal Family can get to you." Erwin reminded him. "You don't even know if the Reiss Family are the Royal Family or not, so why would you even run the risk, even if she agreed to fund our expeditions?"

"Do we need to remind you that every Noble Family is under suspicion until we can find concrete evidence of them not being the true Royal Family." Levi reminded him, not making him feel any better. "It was your idea to weed out the true Royal Family and the other Titan Shifters on this island, and you've put all that into jeopardy by sleeping around with that cow."

"Don't call her that!" Lucas hissed back at Levi. "She's nothing like the rest of those pigs, she's not like them at all." He told them. "I wouldn't expect any of you to understand anyway."

"Whether we understand or not isn't important, but what is of paramount importance is the work we are doing to free the Eldians inside these walls." Erwin harshly reminded him. "The Royal Family is standing in the way of that goal, so once we discover who they are, we need to remove them from power and strip their inheritor of their Titan power."

"I know what we're supposed to be doing." Lucas tried to reassured them he was on the same page as them. "This isn't going to get in the way of that."

Erwin narrowed his eyes at Lucas, who coldly glared at him in return, both staring seemingly into each other's souls. Eventually though, Erwin blinked and refocused himself onto the more pressing matters.

"Very well then, as long as it doesn't impact on your duties to the Scouting Regiment." Erwin seemingly conceded defeat on the matter. "But you should be careful Lucas, if you get caught up in something you shouldn't, we might not be able to help you."

"Tch, whatever." Lucas muttered, not amused by the fact that they had just thrown all semblance of trust between them out the window because of what he had done. "Can I leave now?" He asked, they weren't wrong to, he had kept the identity of the Founding Titan and the Royal Family a secret from them, he could only hope that he could fix her before they tried to have her killed, or she just erased their memories, and he'd be left all alone to start again.

"Yes, that is all Lucas. You may leave now." He said, with Lucas abruptly, and rudely standing up and leaving without another word.

"You do realise that we basically just told him that we have no trust in him, right?" Hange asked after he had left. "We're supposed to trust one another, not question each other when something unexpected happens."

"If he wanted us to trust him, he shouldn't have been sleeping with a Noble behind our backs." Levi pointed out. "He had it coming from a mile away if you ask me, can't keep everything a secret forever."

"Mike, did you smell anything unusual on him?" Erwin asked, choosing not to respond to Hange's question. "Something that would indicate he was lying."

"I could only smell the copious amounts of soap he used to cover up the smell of sex on him." Mike responded, wrinkling his nose at the thoughts of those smells. "Apart from that, nothing, it's like he wasn't nervous at all, no sweat or nothing. That's what I would typically smell on someone who's either lying or hiding something."

"The newspaper never said that he was the father, it was rumors started because he was invited there by Frieda Reiss." Erwin revealed to them. "It wouldn't surprise me if some of the other nobles tried to lay their claim for being the childs father given that it was just rumors."

"You couldn't be less convincing if you tried Erwin." Levi told him. "It's obvious that you think that Lucas is the father."

"Lucas would never do something that he doesn't want to do." Erwin told them. "I think the child is his, but I don't think he'll leave, or get cold feet about what we're trying to achieve."

"If he's the dad, then when's the wedding?" Mike jokingly asked. "Surely they wouldn't allow her to give birth without being married." He pointed out.

"I'm not sure about that Mike, it's entirely possible that they could just marry her off to another Noble family, especially given that both sides of his family used to be persecuted." Erwin replied. "It also might be seen as a... disgrace for someone of her standards to marry a commoner like Lucas."

"What about the squad he's supposed to create before Eren Yeager joins the Scouts?" Hange asked. "Has he chosen anybody yet?"

"He has chosen two people already." Erwin confirmed. "To be honest, it's not really a surprise as to who he chose, he probably trusts them both more than he trusts us, and that was before we accused him of not being careful enough."

(January, 847)

"I can't believe that my baby boy is about to get married!" His mother exclaimed excitedly, both she and Mikasa were there to see him get married. They were both wearing clothes that looked similar to those that Frieda and her family were wearing when he and Grisha found them underneath the chapel, the only difference was that they were both wearing shoes instead of the sandals that Frieda wore that day.

"I don't see why you're so exited about it mom, it feels like I'm about to join a cult." Lucas grumbled in return, looking at himself in the mirror. He was wearing black shoes and pants with a white collared shirt to go along with the white robe he was made to wear. "I didn't spend years of my life ignoring that stupid wall cult just to join a different one."

"Don't be ridiculous Lucas!" She exclaimed, fixing the already fixed collar of his shirt. "It's just a tradition they have here, I'm sure that she would've gone along with any traditions that we have."

"Like the tattoo?" He asked, looking down at his wrist where the mark of their clan resided. Three swords formed an A while a black circle surrounded it. "I don't think she'll be too pleased about me trying to carve this into our kid." He dryly remarked.

"I'm sure you can cross that bridge when you come to it." She told him, before turning to the door to see the father of the bride as he was introduced earlier. "Come on Mikasa, we need to get our seats." She urged, gently pulling Mikasa along before she could resist or protest.

"Lucas, we're all waiting for you." Rod told him. "Frieda is getting impatient now, the ceremony should have started fifteen minutes ago." He reminded him. "If you're getting cold feet, I suggest you warm them up."

Lucas turned to face Rod, a murderous glint in his eyes. "If any one of those pigs gives either my mother or my sister so much as a second glance that I don't like, I will gouge their eyes out and feed it to them." He threatened. "And if I find out that anyone has either tried to kidnap or threaten them, they'll be wishing that I just fed them to a Titan, is that clear?"

"Yes." Rod managed to get out, barely holding his nerve as Lucas walked over, barging him into the wall as he left to take his place at the altar. "Bastard." Rod muttered as he followed him out.

There was so many people watching him as he stood at the altar and waited for Frieda, both his mother and Mikasa were sat on the front row of his side, thankfully there was a female next to them, but that didn't stop him from giving every person that looked in their direction a look that could kill if he tried harder.

Since this was a wedding for the real Royal Family, all the heads of the other Noble Familes had turned up with some of their family. It was supposed to be a traditional wedding, not a public one. If it were up to him, he would have everyone not related to him or Frieda thrown out and told to fuck off, it wasn't their business on how other people chose to live their lives. Nosy bastards.

"You could at least try to look happy." The priest tried to joke with him after seeing that Lucas didn't look very happy for someone about to be married, but a quick glare shut him up for the time being.

" _So many people, so many punchable faces._ " Lucas thought to himself, before seeing some teenager trying to flirt with a girl from another Noble Family. " _Especially him, not everything in life is about flirting, I hope he gives me a reason to talk to him, it would be a waste of breath otherwise._ " He thought, before becoming increasingly annoyed that Frieda was taking her time.

" _What the fuck is taking her so long?"_ He mentally asked himself. " _Lazy shit can't even walk to the altar without taking an hour, she's three months pregnant, not nine."_

His prayers were answered when Rod and Frieda both appeared at the end of the path leading to the altar. She was wearing the same as that night, except that her robe had an R writren in cursive on the left side, presumably the Reiss family seal.

After reaching the altar, Rod handed Frieda over to Lucas who had his hands taken by her, with her hands on the bottom and his on the top. Smiling at him after she took his hands, she gave a slight nod to the priest, who then began the ceremomy.

"Ladies and Gentlemen." He began. "We are gathered her today to bear witness to-" He was cut off by Lucas, who spoke up instead of allowing him to continue.

"Can we skip all this boring shit at the start before I die of boredom?" He asked, not caring about the shocked looks he got from the priest, his mother and the rest of the crowd in attendance. "I'd rather not spend the next hour listening to you rattle on about how great it is to see us get married or whether nobody objects, because the majority of people in this room does object to this, but they can't do anything about it."

"I... suppose we could..." The priest trailed off, not sure how to respond to that because Lucas had basically just thrown the whole introduction out the window with those words. "Lady Reiss, if you could start your vows." He encouraged her, not sure where else to go with it.

Frieda was slightly annoyed with Lucas to say the least, he had just interrupted the priest in the middle of the ceremony quite rudely, and then insinuated that most people here objected to their marriage, which was probably true, but he didn't have to say it out loud.

She knew it was just the way he was, he didn't like having his time wasted and didn't seem to have a filter on his mouth, which meant that even at the most inappropriate of times like this, he managed to say something that completely ruined the moment.

Despite all these quirks that he had, there was something about the way he spoke, the bluntness and sometimes coldness that his words came across as, sometimes even to her, it was just so... enticing to her. Hearing the way that he spoke to her and many others, the same blank tone, devoid of any emotion unless he was either provoked or annoyed, in which case it was quite easy to tell when he disliked someone.

There were sometimes when he frustrated her to the ends of the earth with his attitude, so uncaring, his use of language so foul, his practical verbal abuse of anybody he held a slight dislike of somekind towards, especially her father. She knew that Rod wasn't a saint, far from it, but did he deserve the constant verbal beratings? In Lucas' mind he did, but Frieda wasn't convinced, he tried to keep her away from him, which she disliked greatly. She was drawn to Lucas like a moth to a flame, they were polar opposites in a sense, but they just seemed to be naturally attracted to each other.

They were like two opposite sides of a magnet, instead of repelling each other, they attracted each other. She was the positive and he was the negative. When she was free to be herself, she loved helping people in need and was always positive. When he was being himself he was always realistic, always talking about his own death when someone talked about the future, he never held back when he had something to say unless he was sure that it was either totally inappropriate or completely insensitive.

"Okay then." Frieda flashed the priest a polite smile, then turned her gaze to Lucas, who looked a bit uncomfortable at the situation, and with what she was about to say, she wouldn't be surprised if he was either embarrassed about it or he decided to say something to get the attention off of her vows. Looking him in the eyes as she gently squeezed his hands, she began.

"I, Frieda Reiss, take you, Lucas Ackerman, to be my lawfully wedded husband, I promise to stay faithful to you. I promise that I will always remain by your side, to always support you, to always be there for you. I promise to love and forgive, to stand by you in sickness and in health. I will always be by your side, until death do us part."

That had to be the most embarrassing thing that somebody had ever said to him, it didn't help that there was a crowd of people watching Frieda declare her love for him, but it was made almost a million times worse since his own mother was watching, and she would never let him hear the end of this.

Fidgeting awkwardly at the words, avoiding eye contact as he tried to keep himself composed. He usually didn't care what people said to him or when they spoke about him, but when she said it, something was different... he felt something inside that he hadn't felt in a long time. Feeling a tingling sensation in his chest, and feeling his face getting hotter, he made eye contact once again only to see her smiling warmly at him, not a hint of amusement or a smidgen of a smirk on her lips.

"Thank you Lady Reiss." The priest thanked her after she finished. "Now then Mr Ackerman, would you please begin your vows."

Shit. He really should've practiced this beforehand, or maybe he shouldn't have interrupted the priest earlier and he'd have some last minute time to prepare. He was usually prepared for other important things, but this time he didn't bother, mainly because he was dealing with his mothers excitement and whatnot, but it was mainly because he had no clue what to say.

It was quite obvious that if he didn't know what to say, then just say something that he means wholly, something that shows hos he feels, but to be honest, it was nobody's business on how he felt with his feelings and emotions apart from himself, and maybe Frieda since it kinda involved her.

He had danced around the issue of his feelings for the past two years, he... wasn't quite sure what to make of these feelings he had. He saw love as a weakness, that it prevented him from being fully committed to his duty as a Scout, which came first due to his oath to serve humanity as a soldier. He tried to ignore these feelings for the longest amount of time possible, but that had all culminated in a much needed release a few months ago, in an attempt to release these bottled up emotions, he stupidly impregnated the woman that he could well possibly have to kill in the near future if everything went to shit.

Was it stupid of him to get her pregnant? Yes, it was. She about eight years to live, meaning that their child would see their mother taken away before the age of nine, and with his occupation, they could well possibly become an orphan.

Did he regret getting her pregnant? Well... he wasn't sure, he admitted that it was stupid and idiotic of him to do, but regretting something like creating a child with someone wasn't something he was sure he could do. Look how Alma turned out, always regretting not killing Historia for fear of her own life, until he took them and hid them both away.

Regretting something as important as that just wasn't something he could do. Sure, there would probably sleepless nights, constant crying, diaper changing and feeding. But those things weren't going to be his problem, at least for the most part. He would have to visit, probably more than he already did, he'd probably have to stay the night more than he'd like to, but to be honest, it would probably be easier to just leave and not come back, but he wasn't an asshole like Rod, so he wouldn't do that, especially to someone that was related to him.

But now he had other things to worry about, mainly the vows he had to give. So he just said what came to his mind.

"I, Lucas Ackerman, take you, Frieda Reiss, to be my lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and health, for rich or for poor, to cherish and protect." That line made him want to off himself just to save him from the embarrassment, but nevertheless, he soldiered on. "I promise to not leave you if I can help it." Some eyebrows were raised at that vow. "I'll try not to die, but I can't promise that I won't. Uhh..." He stuttered, trying to think of something else to say. "I won't... uhh make you raise our child by yourself. I uhh... think that's it."

"Thank you Mr Ackerman." The priest thanked him, while Lucas was trying his utmost to look calm while trying to keep the embarrassment he felt at a minimum. "Now we'll have the exchanging of the rings." He announced.

After the ring bearer, which was Frieda's little sister Florian, presented both rings to them, Frieda took the first one while Lucas held out his left hand. The ring was a simple gold band, much to Lucas' relief, he wasn't sure he could wear something that was 'flashy' or 'expensive' around the Scouts HQ, it made him feel awkward and self conscious just thinking about it.

Slowly sliding the ring onto his fourth finger, Frieda began to speak directly to him. "This ring is a symbol of our marriage, that I will love and cherish you. This ring is also a symbol of our bond, that it will always remain strong even when we can't. This ring is a symbol of my eternal love for you, now and forever." She finished off, taking note of how there was the faintest of red on his face as he looked extremely uncomfortable, even if he tried to hide it.

Sighing internally as he picked up the other ring, he didn't want to say something mushy or any of that shit that would make him look like a big softie, but he kinda had to, that was the point of this, but he would use his own words, not just repeat what she said.

Using his right hand to slide the ring onto her ring finger on her left hand, he also began to speak. "This ring is to symbolise our marriage. It is a sign of my commitment to you and our unborn child. This ring symbolises the connection that we have, that nobody else will get in between us, now and forever."

Looking at his hand putting another ring on her finger in pure happiness, her gaze trailed slightly up his arm, only to see a mark on his wrist. Three swords, shaped as an A, with a black circle around the outside.

The memories of Karl Fritz passed through her mind, he was meeting the son of the Shogun of Hizuru. The mark he bore was the same as the one Lucas bore on his wrist, the mark of the Azumabito Clan, they were the equivalent to Royalty in Hizuru. Their child would be eligible to be the Ruler of the Walls and the Shogun of Hizuru, how had she not seen the mark before?

"I now pronounce you husband and wife." The priest said, shaking Frieda out of her sort trance. "You may now kiss the bride."

Realising where she was again, Frieda quickly placed her hands on her now husbands cheeks and kissed him to save him from the embarrassment of having to do it himself as everyone in attendance clapped, a few were genuine, while the rest were just doing it to be polite.

He knew that she had seen his tattoo, he noticed her gaze on his wrist right before her eyes turned purple. She either knew what it meant, or she just accessed the memories of someone who did, he wanted to find out what it was, even if he had to weasel the information out of her or that maniac Karl Fritz inside her head, he would find out what the mark meant.

 **A/N- Thank you for waiting patiently and all the support on the story! If you noticed the small parallels with Lucas and Mikasa, I'll be impressed! Now they're married! Although Lucas' vows missed out a certain word altogether, he wouldn't be doing it if he didn't want to. Next chapter will (finally) be the start of the 104th, and we'll get to see whether it's a boy or a girl! Until then, I hope you enjoyed!**


	11. 104th Cadet Corps

"I hate you Lucas Ackerman!"

Looking at his wife in slight annoyance at her outburst, not only was she yelling at him for something that was partly her fault as well but her hair was splayed all over the place, it wasn't neat, it wasn't tidy, and it definitely wasn't clean.

"This is all your fault Lucas!" She yelled once again, the contractions obviously getting more painful for her. She had been like this for the past two hours, usually he wouldn't take something like that without dishing it back, but since she was currently in labour and about to give birth to their child, he let it slide this time.

"Is this normal for a woman giving birth?" Lucas asked one of the nurses that was helping with the birth.

"Giving birth is one of the most painful things a woman can experience." She replied to him. "I wouldn't take anything she says too seriously, she's just trying to take her mind off the pain of the contractions." She told him. "It might also help if you hold her hand and talk to her, give her something to distract her from the pain."

"But my job requires the full use of my hands." He looked over to where Frieda was, she might just break his hand if she squeezed hard enough. "I don't want to turn up to work with a broken hand because my wife broke it while giving birth."

"Lucas! Stop arguing with the midwife and give me your fucking hand!" Frieda demanded in between breaths. "If you don't give me your hand, I'll kick you out of the room and you won't get back in until tomorrow!"

He wasn't sure if this was meant to test him in some way, one one hand, she was a lot stronger than she looked, she was nowhere near as strong as him though, but she could probably fracture or dislocate a few bones in his hand if she squeezed hard enough.

They had both mutually agreed that his livelihood as a Scout came first, that was one of the ground rules set at the start of their relationship, and if she did break his hand, that would break the first rule they had, which would make him trust her less, especially if she couldn't control her outbursts around him.

Granted she was in labour, which was admittedly an extremely painful thing for a woman to go through, but she should've thought about those consequences nine months ago when she basically told him to knock her up. She was either stupid, or insane, probably a bit of both, but there was nothing he could do about it now, except just being there right now.

"Are you going to give me your hand or not?!" Frieda demanded, losing her temper once again.

"If I feel that you're going to either break, fracture or dislocate any of the bones in my hand, I'm retracting it immediately." He told her. "And you won't get to hold it again." He held out is left hand for her, which was his less preferred hand, although he could write with his left, but he preferred to use his right hand for most basic actions.

Grabbing onto his hand with her right hand quite roughly, she squeezed it as hard as she dared, which was still quite hard, but not enough to cause any instant damage.

"You're not going anywhere Lucas." She told him. "You're going to hold my hand until our child is born, no matter how hard I- SHIT!" She yelled as the pain of the contractions started again, doing her best to not break her husband's hand, but she couldn't promise that, especially if this went on for a few more hours.

After another two hours of painstaking labour and constant hand crushing, Frieda Reiss had given birth to a beautiful baby girl, with only her head and soft black hair poking through the top of the pink blanket she was wrapped in, Frieda was holding onto her with tears of happiness in her eyes.

"Lucas, come sit next to me." She moved over and patted the spot on the bed next to her, to which he sat next to her, albeit with some slight nervousness on his part.

"Isn't she just beautiful?" Frieda asked him. "I never thought I would ever love someone as much as I love you or Historia, but after giving birth to her, I just can't put it into words."

"What about her name?" Lucas asked her. "It's not like we can keep referring to her as 'the baby', you'll need to name her."

"Actually... I want you to name her." She replied. "If I named her it would be something boring, but you have this way with words that I don't, and I think that you'll pick a beautiful name for our beautiful baby girl."

"I'm not so sure thats a great idea Frieda, the last time I was told to name a newborn child, she died." He revealed to her. "So I think you should name her."

"No." She simply said in return. "You dont have to name her this instant Lucas." She reminded him. "But I would prefer it if you did it soon, it will be much better when you do have a name for her."

"I don't get a say in this, do I?" He asked, only receiving a gentle smile and a shake of the head in return. "Tch, insufferable woman. This is exactly why men are so whipped by their wives, because women like you lace your words with sugar and make it irresistible for simple males like me."

"Or maybe I'm so irresistible to you because you love me so much." She teased him, knowing fully well that he was awful at displaying his emotions for others to see. There wasn't a specific time she could recall where he had shown her his emotions for more than ten seconds at a time before going back to the blank mask he always wore on his face.

"I still don't think I should name her." He ignored her teasing. "You're the one who gave birth to her, so it should be you that gets to name her." He said, hoping that she would just accept that he didn't want to name her, mainly because he had no idea what to name her, especially since Frieda had said that he would choose a good name for her, the pressure of that was something he didn't want.

"Lucas..." She sighed, he really could be extremely stubborn sometimes. "I won't force you to think of a name for her." She sat up a bit so she was able to look at him better. "But could you at least try? Please, for me?"

Seeing her bright blue eyes looking at him like that, with an almost pleading look to them. It was enough to make any man crumble after just once glance at them, but not Lucas Ackerman, he wasn't going to trip over his own feet just because a pretty girl looked at him like that.

"Your attempts at trying to use your feminine charms to change my mind will not work on me." He said, turning his head away to avoid her gaze. While at the same time, Frieda looked at him, unamused and unfazed with his attempts to deny the effect that she had on him.

"We both know that's not true." She chimed out. "I know that you like it when I try and take charge, especially when we're-"

"Fine!" He conceded, rather loudly as he interrupted her. "I'll think of a name for her, but no promises that it'll either be good or respectable."

Smirking at him in response, knowing that she had beaten him this time, she then offered him the chance to hold the baby. "Do you want to hold her?" She asked, mainly because she was extremely tired and wanted to sleep.

"I... don't think I should." He responded. "What if I drop her?" He asked, it wasn't like him to be this nervous about something, but this emphasised the fact that he was just as human as she was, still able to feel emotions, except that he was rather exceptional at hiding them most of the time.

"You've never dropped me, so I fail to see how you would be able to drop her." She teased as she gently held out their baby towards him. "Go on." She urged him. "She wants to meet her daddy."

Seeing that he really had no legs to stand on with any argument he tried to put to her, he gently took the child out of her arms and into his, swallowing the lump in his throat as he got over the nerves he had of accidentally dropping her at first, she would probably end up an idiot like Frieda if he did, and he wouldn't allow that to happen.

"See, you're a natural." She told him as she watched the way he held her in his arms. "I'm also really tired, so I think I'm going to go to sleep." She said as she leaned her head against him.

Seeing her hair was a mess as she leaned on him while she drifted off to sleep, he used his index finger to brush the hair out of her face and behind her ear, leaving his finger behind as he softly caressed her cheek and frowned at her at the same time.

Only when he heard her breathing even out as a signal that she was now fast asleep did he dare speak out loud, but even then he was still muttering, just in case somebody else tried to listen in.

"I can't believe that you talked me into this, stupid woman." He muttered, gently tracing her cheek with his free index finger, still cradling their child with his other arm. "Then again, I could've easily removed myself so you wouldn't have gotten pregnant..." Why didn't he pull out? He didn't really know to be honest. All he could say about it while he held this little girl in his arms, his little girl, he didn't regret his decision in the slightest.

(104th Introduction Ceremony)

The heat produced in the middle of the summer was no laughing matter, especially in the southern regions of Wall Rose where it could become extremely hot, especially during the middle of the day. It almost made Lucas feel bad for what was about to happen, the new cadets were about to be grilled by his former Commander Keith Shadis, then he would make them do whatever he felt like until they either made it to sundown or quit while they still could.

Leaning against one of the walls of the wooden cabin with his arms folded across his chest, looking out at all the cadets that were mainly talking in hushed whispers as they waited for their Commandant to come out and address them, Lucas took note of the man next to him, the two roses on his uniform jacket easily identifying him as the Garrison Regiments Liaison Officer.

"Captain." Ian greeted him, standing straight with both arms behind his back, looking and acting how a superior Officer should.

"Ian." Lucas greeted him, not bothering to take his eyes off the rows of cadets in front of them. "I was expecting Rico to show up this year." He remarked. "She finally had enough of me?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that." Ian responded. "I was only told that I would be the Liaison Officer from the Garrison this year."

"Sure." He snorted at him, Rico basically hated him, he wasn't sure why though, she just seemed to dislike him very much.

"I noticed that the MP's still haven't bothered to send somebody." Ian noted the lack of the MP Liaison Officer. "You would think that they would send somebody eventually, you never know who you'll find in the cadets."

As Ian was talking, Lucas was still skimming through the crowd, he had seen Mikasa, Eren and Armin all there as expected, except Eren looked super serious and looked like he wanted to murder something. But the other thing he noticed was the head on blonde hair on top of a girls head, somebody he certainly didn't expect to see there.

Locking eyes with the only person here that she knew, Historia felt a sense of dread pass through her system. She knew he would be here, yet neglected to tell him that she had signed up for the cadets. She knew that he would have tried to stop her from joining if she had told him, that's the reason why she hadn't even told Alma about it until the day she had to leave.

All she wanted to do was make the only person that had been there for her proud of her. He had done so much for her, saved her and Alma's life, given them both a new one, and even a chance to restart her relationship with her mother, which she wad eternally grateful for.

If she had to go through three years of gruelling training, lying her way through the entire process with her fake identity, living the past two years as a person called Krista Lenz instead of Historia. The only times she had been Historia was when he had visited and refused to call her Krista.

She didn't know her last name. Historia was her only name. Both Lucas and Alma refused to tell her her real last name. She lived her whole life on a Nobles estate, but couldn't remember the name of the Lord for the life of her.

She was given the name Krista Lenz on the way to Wall Rose about an hour after they had left the Reiss Estate that she and Alma lived on. He came up with the name Krista because that was the name of the girl in the book that Frieda liked to read to her, which he occasionally had to do if Frieda was doing something else.

The name Lenz was a bit different though, he had come up with that as a play on the word 'lens', which was what Hange liked to use on her microscope when she tried to see if there was any difference in the composition of his muscles and somebody of the same build because he was much stronger than everybody else in the Scout Regiment at the time.

She could feel herself beginning to shake the longer they kept staring at each other. It was impossible to tell what he was thinkig in this moment, but even if he tried to get her to quit, she would be stubborn and stand firm at the decision she had made. Maybe she wasn't the child that her mother wanted, but she would do everything in her power to make Lucas proud of her, even if it means going to hell and back, even joining the Scouts if that's what it takes.

" _Idiot._ " Lucas thought as he continued to stare at Historia. " _I swear that Frieda must have done something to you that night. Joining the Military is hardly the best way to lay low when the Royal Assembly wants your head."_ He let out an exasperated sigh at that. " _For someone who isn't supposed to remember her, you do take after her quite a lot Historia, but if she dies during training, then you won't be the only one who suffers._ " He thought, he wouldn't put it past Frieda to maim him if Historia did die, it was quite creepy watching her fawn over her like a piece of glass a few years back.

"Straighten those spines pissants!" The voice of Keith Shadis rang out, silencing everyone that was assembled. "The 104th Cadet Corps boot camp starts now!" Shadis announced. "Allow me to introduce myself, I'm Commandant Keith Shadis, and you will grow to hate me!" He yelled.

"While we're on the topic of introductions, let me introduce these two!" Shadis shouted as he gestured to both Lucas and Ian. "These two are the Liaison Officers from the Scout Regiment and the Garrison Regiment! Their job is to make sure you know what you're getting into when you're choosing which regiment to join, and maybe if you're lucky you'll get a few tips!"

"Now then." Shadis continued. "Training is gonna be a white knuckle ride through hell! If I've done my job you'll be waking up in a cold sweat from memories of this place every night for the rest if your miserable lives! Right now you're nothing, livestock!" He yelled at them.

"But over the next three soul crushing years, you'll learn to take down your own goliath! Remember this moment when you come face to face with him, because here's where you ask yourselves, am I a fighter? Or am I feed? Am I gonna be ground up to pulpy human gristle between boulder sized incisors?! Or am I gonna be the one to bite?!"

"You see anybody that catches your eye?" Ian asked. "You usually go for the stone faced cadets, seems to be plenty of them this year as well."

"Of course, they're my specialty, who doesn't love berating helpless little kids who try and put on a brave face?" He sarcastically asked him. "Don't you enjoy seeing them squirm like worms when you look at them."

"Not everyone has the ability to stare into someone's soul from a mile away like you can Captain." Ian dryly commented. "It's a miracle none of the recruits have run for the hills yet."

"I'll remember that Dietrich." Lucas grunted in annoyance. "See the blonde girl, really short, looks like she couldn't lift a sword, let alone swing one." Ian hummed in acknowledgement. "Leave her to me, the cute ones always give the funniest answers."

"I'll never understand you Captain." Ian retorted. "But it looks like Shadis is starting to yell, we better get to it."

The rite of passage for the new cadets was supposed to break them down and make them into a clean slate, designed to create perfect soldiers who would obey orders without question.

But in reality, when you call someone filthy and that they used to live in a pigsty, they're more than likely to hate you from that first meeting. That's why there were originally no members from either three Regiments helping train new cadets, because if they were disliked and then gave a questionable order in the future, there would probably be problems with the authority being challenged.

Nobody in the first three rows were of any particular interest to Lucas, Mikasa and Eren would have been if he didn't know them. Mikasa because of her blank look, ans Eren because of that hate filled gaze he wore on his face like a mask.

The fourth row was a much different story however, a stone faced blonde girl shorter than Levi and a nose longer than an ODM gear blade, a tall blonde boy that oozed confidence and even with his brave face, an even taller black haired boy that tried to look the part but his darting eyes gave away his nervousness, and finally a tall female brunette with freckles on her face, she looked extremely bored at this point.

The only problem was that Historia was also on that row, and she woupd be easy pickings for Shadis, so to counter this, Lucas went down the row in reverse, starting with the brunette, then Historia, the two tall ones next and finished off with the other small blonde.

The whole idea of talking to the new cadets that put up a brave face was because children trained by an enemy nation to become mass murderers essentially, wouldn't be intimidated when the head instructor breathed in their general direction.

Another problem was the fact that a small number of trainees die each year from equipment malfunction, mishandling of the gear, or freezing to death during the winter survival training. If Historia died during training, then he was sure that his head was going to be on the chopping block, no matter how much Frieda loved him, she was always going to put Historia first.

Another strategy to make the brave cadets more nervous was that he carried a clipboard and a pencil with him during the rite of passage, he usually didn't look at it after the rite of passage finished, unless there were answers that didn't add up.

Making his way down the row in reverse, he stopped infront of the freckled brunette, she was just about the same height as him, obviously going to be taller than him in three years when she graduated. Giving her a once over with his eyes, he tapped the pencil against his clipboard three times before speaking.

"Name and place of birth." He spoke, looking directly into her eyes as he did, while she looked right back, clearly not caring about anything at the moment.

"Ymir." She said with a not so enthusiastic salute, which got Lucas to look at her, his eyes widening slightly in surprise in shock that she was named after the first Titan Shifter. "And I don't know." She answered the second question with.

"Ymir huh?" He questioned, she had obviously seen his reaction to her name, so there was no point in trying to play it off. "That's an interesting name, I've never met anyone with that name before, who gave it to you?" He inquired.

"Who cares?" She snorted. "It doesn't matter anyway. We'll all be dead eventually."

"That's the most interesting answer I have ever heard." Lucas remarked. "I hope that you're not one of the cadets that die this year Ymir." He started walking away only to turn back to face her. "I wouldn't worry about only having one name though, most people here are nice enough."

Seeing her stiffen slightly at the mention of her name was enough for him to know that she knew what her name meant, so that was one extremely likely candidate for an enemy shifter.

Next down the line was Historia, which was good since Shadis had almost arrived at her. It wasn't really a surprise seeing her tense up as he stopped infront of her, she really was like a blonde mini Frieda.

"Name and place of birth." He spoke using the same tone he had used with Ymir, giving the appearance that they didn't know each other.

"K-Krista Lenz Sir!" She saluted rather stiffly, while shouting at him. "I'm from Wall Rose!"

"I didn't ask for you to shout in my face Cadet Lenz." He calmly spoke to her, seeing that she was acting as if Shadis was screaming in her face. "My job isn't to scream in your face or belittle you without even knowing you. I'm here to build a... rapport with the new Cadets, and in turn, they get to know what being a Scout is all about, understand?"

"Yes Sir!" Historia responded, fitting in with her Krista persona quite well, the only thing left was to make sure that Frieda didn't brainwash her into being too nice right before they parted ways two years ago.

"So, what's an adorable little girl doing in a place that trains people to kill the monsters of this world?" He asked since Shadis had yet to pass them, he didn't know what she had been through, he wouldn't get to humiliate her.

"Um... well-" She hesitated and her salute loosened at the casual nature he had thrown that question at her with. "I want to help people in need, and I'll do whatever it takes."

"You could have easily helped people in need at a charity hospital in Wall Rose." He countered her statement with. "There are other ways to help people than by becoming a soldier."

"Well- that's- I don't-" She stuttered, not seeming to have an answer to that reply he had given her.

Holding his hand up to silence her, waiting for Shadis to walk past before he spoke back to her. Once Shadis had moved onto the next fearful cadet, he leaned down into her ear to whisper. "You did well not to give yourself away Historia." He told her. "But I expect you to tell me the real reason you're here later tonight."

Pulling away from her ear, he continued his way down the line until he stopped infront of the tall black haired boy. He towered above Lucas, to the point where he was staring directly at his chest. Craning his neck back to look up at the boy, who clearly became more nervous at the look he was getting from him.

"Name and place of birth?" He requested once again, it was the same question posed every time, it was simple but effective in getting information on the cadets.

"Bertholdt Hoover Sir!" He saluted. "I'm from the South East of Wall Rose!" He announced.

"That's a very vague answer Hoover." Lucas replied. "Can you be a little more specific?" He asked politely.

"I'm from a mountain village in the south east of Wall Maria." He clarified.

"The name of the village?" Lucas asked in return, it should've been a simple enough question to answer, but seeing the boy falter and become more nervous, he knew something was off. "Were you the village idiot?" He asked, masking his suspicion with annoyance. "How fucking stupid do you need to be to forget the name of your village?"

"Well- uhh..." He stuttered in response, trying to think of something to say in response.

"You know what, it doesn't fucking matter." Lucas sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Just don't be so fucking stupid in the future, or you really won't survive this training."

After being acknowledged by the tall idiot and writing something down on the clipboard, he moved down the line to the person next to him, the tall blonde. He was a lot more muscular than the other lanky boy, more confident in his stance, overall just better at keeping his emotions hidden.

"Name and place of birth?" The question was repeated once again.

"My name is Reiner Braun Sir." He responded with a firm salute. "I'm from a mountain village in the south east of Wall Maria."

"You from the same village as that idiot next to you?" He questioned. "I feel sorry for you if you are, having to know someone as stupid as him."

"We are from the same village." He confirmed. "Our village didn't recieve the news of the breach like most river towns. One morning when I opened the window, there was a Titan standing right there." He looked quite saddened by this, but it was obviously a lie, nobody looks a Titan in the eye and just escapes.

"If I wanted to listen to a sob story, I would've gone down to an orphanage where parents dump their kids because they didn't want the responsibilities that come with parenthood." He deadpanned. "I don't care about what happened to you, nobody here should."

"Uhh... yeah, you're right Sir." Reiner replied after faltering for a second before regaining his composure. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No, you shouldn't have." He agreed. "But since I'm so nice, I'll let it slide this time, but for future reference Braun, don't talk about shit that's not relevant to the conversation at all."

After quickly writing somethinh down, Lucas moved down the line, ignoring the ones Shadis had already screamed at, instead going for the second smallest person he had ever met in his life.

She was just about taller than Historia, but about three inches shorter than Levi. Blonde hair tied into a bun, with her hair hanging over her right eye.

The same question was repeated once again, only this time the girl in front of him didn't waver at all during his questioning. Her responses were all simple, she was from southern Wall Maria, she quite bravely refused to give more details of her hometown, only that she managed to escape to Trost.

"Interesting story." Lucas commented after she told him that she was a refugee. "But why did you join the Military then?"

"I joined so that I could apply for the Military Police." She replied. "I just want to live a safe life behind the Inner Wall." She truthfully replied.

"That's only until the Walls are breached again, leading to another massacre, mass starvation within the last Wall and possibly a Civil War between the citizens and Royal Government." He deadpanned. "Nobody is ever safe, don't lie to yourself by believing you ever will be."

The girl didn't waver at that, which was somewhat impressive, most people would've crumbled after having their fantasy of safety brought down on top of them, but not this short blonde. Writing the name Annie Leonhart down on the clipboard, only one word accompanied it, 'Interesting.'

Most of the braver cadets were in the first few rows, but there were still a few more in the latter rows, only to look like they wanted to run for the hills at the sight of the Captain stopping in front of them. There were also a few more complete idiots within the ranks, a short boy with a shaved head who somehow managed to salute backwards.

There was also the girl who tried to bribe Shadis with a potato, after yelling in her face about eating at the formation , she offered him half, which wasn't even half, more like a quarter. Shadis then gave her the option of running until she dropped or losing food rations for three days. She took off running almost instantly.

Despite the fact that he knew people that were doing the training this year, Lucas couldn't help but think that this would the worst year by far, especially if there was anybody else as remotely stupid as Blouse and Springer.

Later that day, after Shadis had run them through the ringer with physical exercises, the cadets got to eat their dinner, well everyody except one cadet did. Sasha was still running well into the night, she was supposed to be at least, and she wasn't supposed to be fed until morning.

He didn't know exactly what Frieda had done to Historia when she said goodbye, but she definitely had something to do with her going out of her way to disobey a direct order from Shadis to not feed Blouse.

Standing in front of Historia, who looked like a kid caught with their hand in the cookie jar, Ymir was also there with her, just looking on without a care in the world, Sasha however, was passed out on the floor, with breadcrumbs around her mouth and on the ground beside her.

"What are you two doing?" He demanded. "It's almost curfew, and Cadet Blouse wasn't supposed to be fed until tomorrow morning if she was lucky."

"We're just gonna take her back to the bunkhouse, Sir." Ymir spoke up before Historia could. "Nothing wrong with that, is there?"

"Who fed her?" He cut to the chase, he knew it was Historia, but he wanted to see if she admitted to it, but neither of them responded. "I'll ask again, who fed her?"

"I did Sir." Historia admitted. "I did it on my own, please don't punish Ymir, she had nothing to do with it." She insisted.

"Take Blouse back to the bunkhouse." He directed at the brunette, then turned towards Historia. "Follow me Cadet Lenz, is seems that we need to have a chat about how to follow orders properly."

"Yes Sir." Her head dropped as she began to follow him, he was probably going to use this as an excuse to kick her out of the Military, she wouldn't blame him if he did, she disobeyed an order and had to be reprimanded for it.

The walk to the instructors cabin was short, but it felt like hours for Historia. She wanted a purpose in her life, she wanted him to be proud of her, to tell her that she had done well, to praise her, to make her feel needed. She wanted to be remembered by people, and the only way of doing that was to do something heroic.

Stepping inside the instructors cabin with Historia following silently, they stepped inside of a room which looked mostly bare but had a single desk with a window behind.

"Sit." He told her as he sat down behind the desk, leaning back on his chair as he put his feet up on the desk while she sat down opposite him, playing with her dress nervously. "Do you know why I brought you here?"

"You're going to kick me out right?" She guessed. "I'm sorry for disobeying orders, but I was just trying to be nice, I just wanted to make a friend." She told him.

"I'm not even remotely annoyed that you disobeyed Shadis' orders, I used to do that all the time, so I'm not in any place to grill you for it." He replied. "I'm not going to kick you out either, as much as it pains me to say, I don't have any authority in the Cadet Corps."

"If I'm not getting kicked out, why did you bring me here then?" She asked curiously, hopefully he didn't want to know why she really joined, it would be embarrassing to tell him about it.

"Well for one, I wanted to use your actual name Historia, instead of that fake one I gave you. Secondly, I want to know why you really joined the Cadets, you were safe enough living with Alma in Wall Rose, not to mention that helping people bullshit you gave me earlier." He said while staring directly at her. "Come on, out with it."

"I just wanted you to be proud of me." She mumbled out, looking down at her skirt, refusing to make eye contact with him.

"Didn't hear that. Say it again." He requested.

"I wanted you to be proud of me." She looked up at him this time, but he didn't say anything so she kept on going. "You saved me and mother that night, you helped us, you gave us a new home, you got mother to talk to me, to have a semi-normal relationship with me." She took a breath after all that, but didn't stop yet. "You did it for nothing in return, you were the first friend I ever had, the first person who wasn't disgusted with my existence or ignored me completely."

"Historia, stop-"

"Everyone in the Walls knows who you are, you'll be remembered forever as Humanity's Strongest Soldier. I just want to be remembered as well, I want to have friends who can rely on me, who I can trust, who will trust me. That's why I joined, Historia isn't wanted, but Krista can be."

"Historia..." He began as he took his feet off the desk, looking at her properly this time. "It's not my place to tell you how to live your life, but I'll tell you that putting on an act isn't a good thing to do, because eventually you'll back yourself into a corner you can't get out of."

"I know that." She replied. "But it's what I want to do." She stubbornly told him. "You can't stop me."

"Is that so..." He hummed, she might have been timid most of the time, but she was quite stubborn when she wanted something, it reminded him of Frieda. "Historia." He stopped her from leaving. "Why did you give Blouse that food?"

"Because it was the right thing to do, and I wanted to be friends with her." She replied honestly. "Is that a bad thing?"

"No... it's not." He denied. "You just reminded me of someone when you did that."

"That's a good thing, isn't it?" Historia asked.

"No... she's an idiot." He deadpanned. "I'd be worried if you ended up like her Historia, being nice to people is fine, but there's a limit to how nice you should be to people, if you continue on like she has, you'll be dead before you hit thirty."

"Right..." She trailed off, not sure how to respond to that. "Can I go back to the bunkhouse now?"

"Sure." He replied as they both stood up. "The aptitude test is tomorrow, you'll need to concentrate if you want to pass, if you don't pass, you can't stay."

"Okay." She nooded. "But there's something else Lucas."

"What is-" He was cut off by Historia giving him a quick hug.

"Thank you for caring about Historia, but please call me Krista from now on." She requested.

"Cadet Lenz is the best you'll get, someone has to remember your actual name Historia." He replied as she let go. "Now get to bed before Shadis catches you... Pipsqueak."

She pouted at the use of the nickname for her but didn't say anything, instead letting the silence fill the air as she retreated back to the bunkhouse for the night.

(The next day)

The aptitude test, something Lucas hated with every fibre of his being, he had failed the first day of aptitude training, and barely passed on the second day, with the Instructor only passing him because he stayed upright for long enough before losing balance again.

Some of the 104th who hadn't dropped out after the first day were getting the hang of it. Mikasa who had cut her hair, had just hung there like it was second nature, others like Armin struggled at first but soon got the hang of it.

Eren however, was a completely different story, much like Lucas had, he was hanging upside down on his first attempt, while being not so subtly laughed at by the other cadets.

"What is your major malfunction Yeager?!" Shadis bent down to yell at him. "Straighten yourself up!"

" _Why am I... how do I work this thing?"_ Eren asked himself in horror at his own failure. " _This can't be happening."_

"Idiot." Lucas muttered under his breath. " _The one time I need him to do something properly, and he can't even do it."_

Later that evening after the initial tests had finished, Eren had enlisted the help of Mikasa and Armin to help him learn how to use the gear, with Mikasa being used by Eren to go and get her big brother to help him as well.

"Just remember the basics and you should be fine." Mikasa told him. "No need to try any fancy manoeuvres. Just focus on your balance, then distribute your weight evenly between the belts on your waist and your legs." She explained.

"Loosen up your stance a little bit." Armin suggested. "If I could do it, I know that you can." He tried encouraged Eren.

"Okay, a loose stance but balanced." Eren repeated, he glanced to the side to see that Lucas didn't say anything, only a nod of the head from him. "Let's give it a shot Armin."

Armin nodded and started to crank the lever and hoist him up. As soon as his feet left the ground, he wobbled backwards, started panicking and fell forwards with his forehead colliding with the ground, leaving him unconscious.

"Eren!" Mikasa and Armin panicked as they rushed over to him, with Mikasa detaching him from the cables of the machine.

"Is he gonna be alright." Armin asked. "He looked like he hit his head pretty hard there."

"Eren, can you hear us?" Mikasa rapidly asked. "Lucas, is he okay?" She turned to her brother.

Sighing internally, Lucas bent down to have a look at Eren, there was a nasty cut on his forehead, but that would heal quickly. Taking his index and middle fingers, he placed them under the corner of his lower jaw, and felt a faint thumping every second or so.

"He'll be fine, he still has a pulse." He replied, and was proven right as Eren gave out a soft groan as he was coming to. "See, totally alright."

Before Eren could fully wake up, Lucas took the liberty of removing his belt, and before anyone could ask why, he started giving them instructions.

"Armin, take Eren to the infirmary to get that cut bandaged." He told him.

"I'll take him." Mikasa spoke up. "I can carry him easily."

"No, Armin will take him Mikasa." Lucas repeated. "You and me are going to see if this belt is broken the old fashioned way, and I doubt that Armin could lift me off the ground fast enough."

Knowing that arguing with him was pointless and that he was correct, Mikasa conceded and allowed Armin to help Eren to the infirmary once he could stand up.

"What are you going to do now?" Mikasa asked once Eren and Armin had left.

"I'm going to see if there's anything wrong with his belt." He replied as he removed his own belt. "Eren might be a complete idiot, but I refuse to believe that he can't complete this simple exercise." He explained as he pulled Eren's belt around his waist. It was a bit tight since it was meant to fit Eren who was smaller than him, but since he wasn't exactly a giant, he managed to get it on without cutting off the blood flow to his legs too much.

"You ready Mikasa?" He asked as he attached the wires to the belt, to which she nodded in return. "Okay, be quick about it, I don't want to hit my head like Eren did."

"You want me to lift you fast enough so that you won't hit your head if you do fall over like Eren?" Mikasa asked.

"Yes, you see why I asked you to do this instead of Armin now?"

"Yes, I do now." She responded. "He wouldn't be able to lift you fast enough in case you fall over, I'll do it quickly, if it will help Eren."

"Of course you'd take it that way." He sighed. "Whatever, you ready?" She nodded. "Okay, three, two, one, go."

Once the word 'go' was said, Mikasa began cranking the handle as fast as she could, lifting Lucas off the ground a lot faster than someone was supposed to be lifted using the aptitude test. Once his feet left the ground, he started wobbling forward and backwards, the combination of what was obviously a defective belt, and being hoisted off the ground quicker than usual, he ended up nearly falling over completely, with only his core strength keeping him upright.

Once he was high enough off the ground, Mikasa stopped turning the handle so tht she could help her older brother in identifying what was wrong with the gear.

"Have you found out what's wrong with the belt?" Mikasa asked as she observed him, he was hanging there, the only movements were the slight shaking that was happening every few seconds or so, and the adjustments he had to make to counter the defective gear.

"It's not working like it should." He replied as he shifted his weight slightly again. "I shouldn't need to constantly shift my weight to stay upright, the belt is definitely broken." He explained. "You can let me down now."

Once she had let him back down and he had taken Eren's belt off, he handed it back to Mikasa.

"Give this back to Eren, but don't tell him that it's defective." He told her.

"Why not?" She asked. "Surely you would want him to pass the test tomorrow."

"I'm sure he'll be fine Mikasa." Lucas reassured her. "Even if he fails again, I'll step in and give him a functioning belt."

"Mikasa." Lucas spoke up again before she could. "You could have stayed in Trost with Mom, why did you join the Military?"

"Because wherever Eren goes, I go." She responded with. "He's like family, and I promised Mrs Yeager that I would protect him, that's why."

"Mikasa..." He needed to choose his words carefully. "A life where you're dedicated to someone else isn't a life you should live. I'm not saying you shouldn't protect Eren or whatever you want to to do with him, just remember that Mom would prefer that you didn't throw your life away just because he saved your life."

"Would you stop me if that was the situation?" She asked suddenly. "If I could save him, but die, would you stop me?"

"... That's an odly specific question Mikasa." He replied after a short pause. "Let's hope that it never comes to that, because I'm not sure you would like my answer."

"I see..." She trailed off. "I'll go give this back to Eren." She left without another word to him.

"I hate teenagers." He muttered before walking away from the aptitude testing area as well.

The next morning, the air was thick with anticipation. Eren was about to have a second try at the aptitude test.

"Eren Yeager, are you ready?" Shadis asked once Eren was strapped into the testing device.

"Yes Sir." He answered.

"Proceed." Shadis commanded.

Slowly, Thomas began to turn the lever, which slowly began to lift Eren off the ground. He grunted with the effort that was being exerted, but despite the wobbling he was doing, he was able to stay upright. The Cadets all cheered for him, he was finally able to stay upright with the gear.

Unfortunately for Eren, the joy of staying upright only lasted for a few more seconds until he lost his balance and ended up on the floor again, but this time, not one of the Cadets laughed, giggled or even smirked at his failure.

"No! Not yet! Once more! I can do it!" Eren pleaded after seeing Shadis slowly make his way towards him.

"Lower him." Shadis ordered, the disappointment in his voice clear as day.

Eren fell to his knees the moment he hit the ground, tears welling up in his eyes. "I- I'm finished."

"Wagner, please exchange belts with Mr Yeager." Shadis requested to the surprise of many, mostly because he had asked so politely.

"Uh, yes Sir." Thomas replied, confused, but still complied with the orders.

Once Thomas had given his belt to Eren, and Eren handing his belt to Shadis, Eren was lifted into the air once again. This time however, it was a completely different outcome. Instead of falling on his head like before, he was able to balance properly on the gear like everyone else.

"Your equipment was defective." Shadis explained to the confused Cadets as he held it out for Eren to see. "If given a piece of functional gear, you might not be worthless after all. Quartermaster didn't notice this broken clasp. Might have to visit the supply depo and crack a couple skulls."

"So you mean I... I didn't wash out?" Eren was hopeful now.

"You made the cut." Shadis confirmed. "Now keep training Cadet!"

Eren smiled in glee, he was going to become a soldier and get his revenge on the Titans who invaded his hometown, and he wouldn't stop, not until every last one was dead.

 **A/N- I have finally finished up this chapter, it took much longer than I had hoped it would, mainly because I wasn't writing as much and as often as I naybe should have. Anyway, now that the 104th has started, what will Lucas do with the 'suspicious characters' he has uncovered? Mainly Ymir because of her name, but Bertholdt because he didn't know the name of his supposed village and Reiners BS sob story.**

 **Anyway, if you have any questions about the story, leave a comment and I'll answer it at the start of the next chapter, until then. I hope you enjoyed!!!**


	12. Happiness Does Matter

**A/N- Quick note, her name is pronounced Mi-sa-ko, not Mee-sa-ko, just so you don't get confused with Mikasa, enjoy the chapter!**

(Winter, 847, Wall Sina)

For as long as he could remember, Lucas could never fall asleep unless he was lying down on his stomach, otherwise he could never get to sleep.

He had never been able to shake this habit of his no matter how hard he tried, or how tired he was at the time, unless he was face down on the bed, he couldn't sleep.

That didn't exactly sit well with Frieda when she first found out about it, because she liked to cuddle with whatever was in the bed with her, and this meant that she couldn't do it with him.

She had tried just about everything in her efforts to help him to sleep in a different position. She gave him different kinds of herbal tea that was supposed to help people with sleeping problems, that didn't work. She tried giving him warm milk that was heated up over a fire, that didn't work either. Milk was also a precious commodity that only the richest people in the walls could afford, much like meat, so that method was quite an expensive failure.

In a last ditch attempt to be able to cuddle up against her husband, and to have him hold her while they slept, Frieda kept him up until about three in the morning trying to tire him out to the point of collapse with sex, it made her want to give in to the luxury of sleep at least a dozen times that night, but she powered through in an effort to help him sleep on his back, or even his side.

That didn't work as well as she had hoped at the time, because she spent the vast majority of that night on her back, and as soon as his face hit the pillow, he fell asleep almost instantly, so instead, she decided to lay next to him and bury her head into his upper back, with one arm under his chest and the other going to his other side with both her legs wrapped around one of his.

This was how their usual sleeping position was made when they slept in the same bed together, his body was very warm most of the time, so it was easy to snuggle up to him at night with the heat his body produced.

This particular night was no different to the others, Frieda was laying half on top, half on the side of Lucas, who had both of his arms stretched out underneath the pillow.

Everything about his position was calculated, his arms were used to elevate his chest off the bed just enough so he didn't stop the blood flow through Frieda's arm under his chest, his short hair was neat and tidy, his breaths were deep and evened out.

Frieda was the complete opposite, her body was lazily sprawled over the top of him, her hair was a mess and all over his back and shoulders, her mouth hung open onto his back, leaving a small amount of drool connecting her mouth and his back.

It was peaceful inside the room, it was exactly how the perfect, young, married couple should be, enjoying each others presence while sleeping, it was bliss, it was exactly how they wanted to sleep through the night.

That was until their daughter started crying, it happened most nights, and most nights Frieda had to deal with it. But since he was there for a few days before the next expedition, it was his job to get out of bed and put her back to sleep.

"Lucas." Frieda groaned into his back. "Misako's crying again. It's your turn to put her back to sleep."

"I can feel your drool on my back Frieda." He said groggily into the pillow. "It makes me want to ignore you completely and go back to sleep."

Pulling her head lazily off of his back, she could see the string of saliva being left behind as she pulled away and gently wiped it away and wiped the drool off his back.

"There, you happy now?" She asked jokingly, only for Misako's crying to get louder. "Seriously, go and calm her down, I want to sleep."

"Alright, I'll get up." He sat up and rubbed his eyes so he could see properly. Just before he did get up, Frieda leaned across to give him a gentle kiss on the cheek as she gently held his face by the other cheek.

"Thank you Lucas." She said as she flopped back down onto the bed, burying herself in the blankets and her nose in the pillow he used. "I'll make it up to you eventually." She spoke up.

As she buried herself even deeper into the bedsheets, she let out a small groan in pleasure as she stretched her body out, smacking her lips together as she heard Lucas calm down the crying Misako, the last thing she heard before she fell asleep was complete silence as the crying stopped completely.

Waking up in a completely different place to where she fell asleep was quite confusing for Frieda. She didn't know where she was, and it was extremely confusing for her.

The room she was in was very dark, she could hardly see anything inside the room, only the small rays of light shining through the curtains.

"Where am I?" She wondered aloud, this wasn't her room, and it didn't seem familiar to her at all. "Lucas!" She called out. "Father! Can you hear me!"

No one responded to her calls, so she slid the covers off of ger body and slowly walked to the window, ready to pull aside the curtains.

As she reached the curtains, she slowly parted them, the bright lights of the outside momentarily blinding her as the light poured inside the room, lighting every visible surface of the room.

Once her eyes adjusted to the sudden brightness, her eyes widened at what she saw. Outside was a lake that she had been to before, and seen before in her Uncle Uri's memories when she had inherited her power from him.

"What?" She questioned. "There aren't supposed to be any bulidings here. What is happening here?"

She was utterly confused about this, she knew where she was, she just didn't know how, or why she was there. So she decided that the next course of action was to explore the building and find someone here that could help her out of her predicament.

Striding towards the door with a determined look plastered on her face, the sound of her bare feet padding on the wooden floor of the room. She reached for the handle, only to have the door open from the other side and slam into her forehead, causing her to real back in pain.

"Oh! I'm so sorry Frieda!" A male voice quickly apologised to her. "I thought you were still asleep considering how early it is. Let me have a look at your head."

"Ow." Frieda groaned out in pain. "Who is that?" She asked. "That hurt..." She trailed off after seeing who it was that had opened the door. "Uncle Uri?" She asked in disbelief.

"Yes, it's me." He replied a little confused. "Who else would I be?" He jokingly asked. "I always wake you up in the morning, you sleep in far too much young woman."

"Uncle Uri." She whispered, reaching out to touch him, hoping against all hope that he wouldn't disappear from her life again. Once she touched his arm, her lips quivered and tears threatened to spill out. "Uncle Uri." She said a little louder this time.

"What's wrong Frieda?" Uri asked, panicking since he saw her tears.

"Uncle Uri!" She yelled as she started crying out loud, holding onto him as tightas she could, not wanting to let go again. "I'm sorry Uncle Uri! I'm so sorry." She apologised as she sobbed into his shoulder, her fingers gripping onto his clothes tightly, refusing to lessen her grip at all.

"It's okay Frieda, just calm down." Uri soothed, gently stroking her hair and her back. "Tell me what's wrong Frieda." He requested. "I'll listen, take your time."

"Uncle Uri, where are we?" She managed to ask through her tears. "I remember the lake, but I don't remember there ever being any kind of building nearby."

"Don't you remember Frieda? This estate was built by our family as a present for when you turned thirty." Uri told her. "You're here on holiday with your husband." He reminded her. "How hard did I hit your head Frieda? You don't seem like yourself."

"Thirty? But I was twenty yesterday..." Her mind was a mess right now, she needed to find Lucas, he would help her through this mess right now.

"You must have been dreaming Frieda." Uri told him. "I'm very sure that you're thirty three now. I'd wager my life on that." He joked, a small smile etched on his face.

"You're right Uncle Uri." Frieda agreed with him, wiping the rest of the tears away from her face. "I must have been dreaming." She rubbed her forehead. "Let me get dressed first, oh and before I forget, where is Lucas?"

"I believe that Mr Ackerman has been forced into a wooden sword battle with Misako once again." Uri replied. "She's far too interested in battle for my liking, I have no idea how you deal with her."

"Thank you again Uncle Uri... and sorry about crying on you." She smiled a but sheepishly at him.

"It's not a problem Frieda." Uri dismissed her guilt. "Your happiness is all that matters, please don't forget that." He said, gently closing the door behind him as he left Frieda to her own thoughts.

As soon as Uri was gone, Frieda dashed over to the desk and opened the drawers frantically, searching for a mirror in one of them, once she found one she held it up and was shocked at what she saw.

She was definitely older, her face had a more mature look about it, and her hair was back to being short again, like it was when she was fifteen. "Lucas liked my hair long." She muttered to herself. "Why did I cut it?" Running her hands through her hair, it was still as soft as it used to be, at least one thing hadn't changed.

Next she had to get dressed, she assumed that the closet would have her clothes, and it did, but many of the clothes weren't to her taste. She dressed for herself, not for anyone else unless she had a specific reason for doing so, like a ball or gala she had to attend.

Choosing a simple, but elegant skirt and blouse combo, she brushed her hair and exited the room, only to realise she had no idea where she was going. It was going to be a rough few minutes for her.

After a few minutes of agitated wandering around the building, she finally arrived at what was the dining room, where her Uncle Uri was seated at the table and reading a newspaper.

There was a woman in her mid twenties also seated at the table, Frieda assumed it to be Florian since she was always close with her and she looked like an older version of her, but Florian's gaze was directed to something at the other side of the room.

At the other end of the large dining room, there was a girl of about thirteen years of age, medium length black hair, shining blue eyes, wearing a skirt and a shirt wielding a wooden sword and swinging it at an older man.

The man had short black hair, wore the standard military uniform without the jacket which was on one of the chairs as he was sparring with the girl, giving her pointers about her stance and to adjust her grip on the sword every time he blocked her attack.

A knot formed in Frieda's stomach, that was definitely her daughter, but she didn't remember a single moment of her growing up, something was definitely wrong here, something had happened, and she would find out what.

"Misako!" Frieda called out to her daughter. "You're not hurt, are you?"

"No mother, I'm fine." She stoically replied, definitely Lucas' daughter as well. "It's Mr Ackerman that should be worried, I'm going to put him into the dirt!" She declared.

"Tch, not likely brat." The older Lucas scoffed. "The only way I'll end up on the dirt is if I'm six feet under."

It was good to see that Lucas hadn't changed at all, despite the insane changes that everyone seemed to have gone through. The only thing missing was Historia and everything would be perfect in her eyes at least.

"Lucas, don't be so aggravated all the time." She said as she approached them. "You're setting a bad example for Misako." She leaned down to kiss her daughter on the cheek.

"Why would I need to set an example?" He snorted. "That's the most ridiculous thing you've ever said, discounting all that talk of peace and other bullshit."

She chuckled at his attempt to shy away from his responsibilities, leaning over to give him a kiss on the cheek as well, but instead of reacting like he usually would, he stiffened up like a board and she heard his breath hitch.

"What is it?" She asked, concerned at his behaviour. "Is something wrong?"

"Frieda, you're lucky that your husband didn't see you doing that." Uri scolded her. "You should know how he feels about Mr Ackerman, he is the best there is, but Javier will use any excuse to get rid of him."

"Javier?" Frieda repeated as a question, the name was slightly familiar, but not so much as she would remember right off the bat. "Javier?" She repeated again, it was on the tip of her tongue, she just couldn't remember it.

"Javier Inocencio." Uri glared at her. "The heir to the Inocencio Noble Family. You've been married to him for thirteen years, engaged for an entire eighteen months before that."

" _Oh, him._ " She thought, she met him before, he was nothing but a womanising pig, he thought he was better than everyone else, she hated people like him. Why on earth did she marry him? Maybe she was insane.

"Frieda, you don't seem okay, are you alright?" Florian asked. "Maybe you should go back to bed, and away from Lucas, his unfiltered mouth is probably damaging your brain."

"What? But... what?" She was about to lose her mind at this point. She was married to someone she didn't even like, Misako was basically a female version of Lucas but with blue eyes, Florian even seemed to want to get rid of her from the room completely.

"Florian, why are you looking at me like that?" Frieda asked, her face one of hurt and betrayal. "What did I ever do to you that made you look at me like that? You're my little sister."

"Frieda, I think you should go back to your bed." Uri suggested. "You clearly aren't thinking straight, especially when you give your bodyguard a kiss like you hold some kind of affection for him."

"Bodyguard? But Lucas and I... we were..."

"Were what?" Florian was the one who demanded an answer this time, her eyes were burning with jealousy this time though.

"We were... are-" She turned around to look at him for some kind of support, but all she got was a cold stare, even he seemed to be against her.

"Fine then! I'll have it my way then!" Frieda announced, quickly closing the gap between her and Lucas, roughly pushing him up against the wall and pushing her lips down against his in an aggressive show of affection.

He didn't do anything except stand as still as a statue, so Frieda brought her right hand up to almost violently tug on his hair and get a slight gasp out of him, just enough to shove her tongue through his lips and into his mouth.

In another aggressive show of affection, her left hand quickly came down his back and went straight onto his ass, groping and squeezing hard and rough while she practically violated his tongue with hers.

She was then pulled off of him even more roughly, and the last thing she saw after being turned around was Florian's fist heading straight for her face.

Frieda's unconscious body jerked backwards onto Lucas, who was forced to catch her so she didn't hit her head on the floor and get him into even more trouble than he was already in.

"Mr Ackerman." Uri spoke in a deadly low tone. "Give Frieda to me and I'll take care of her now, but I'm sure we would all like an explanation when I get back. Come along Misako, you should get back to your studies."

Once Uri had taken the unconscious Frieda and Misako out of the room, Florian stepped forward and slapped him hard across his face, leaving a bright red mark on his left cheek.

"What the hell is wrong with you?!" Florian demanded harshly. "Why the hell didn't you stop her, do I actually mean anything to you?" She looked hurt at that, and rightfully so.

"First, that slap was completely unnecessary. Secondly, if I put my hands on her in any kind of aggressive manner, Javier will actually try and have me killed. Thirdly, that's a stupid question and you know it."

"Well, I guess that's true." Florian put her finger under her chin in thought, but then narrowed her eyes at him. "You haven't cheated on me, have you? Because I would be really pissed off if you have."

"Now that's a really stupid question." He deadpanned, he reached out with his hand, using his index finger to gently move some her out of her face. "You really think I'd be stupid enough to cheat on the daughter of the King, especially someone as beautiful as you."

"Thank you Lucas." She giggled, but failed to hide the small red tint on her cheeks. "But if you think that flirting will get you off the hook then your completely wrong. Uncle Uri will demand to know why she kissed you, and I do want to know as well."

"I don't know why she kissed me Flo." He huffed in response. "There's always something wrong with her, are you sure that she isn't actually insane."

"No she isn't insane... she's just a bit.. whats the word?"

"Loopy? Idiot? Insanity?" Lucas dryly suggested. "Because those words do seem to apply to her condition, even more so after what just happened."

"No!" She hit his chest. "Would you take this seriously, my older sister just kissed my secret boyfriend out of nowhere and you're taking it like it's all a big joke! Will you take something seriously for once!"

"Fine then." He grumbled, grabbing her shoulders and pressing her back into the wall that Frieda pushed him into. "I'll show you how serious about you I really am."

His lips were on hers in an instant, he only had to push forward since they were the same height. Pressing himself against her as their lips were engaged in a hot, wet, fiery embrace, neither of the two could keep their hands to themselves.

One of her hands was tangled wildy in his hair, pulling and tugging at every possible chance that she got while her other was snaking it's way inside of his shirt that had become loose, moaning in delight as she raked her nails down his lower abdomen and his waistline.

One of his hands was on her hip to keep her in place while his other was used to bring her leg up to his waist and wrap it around, stroking her thigh inside of the skirt she was wearing that had now been brought up far more than any Noble woman should have.

"You're so luckly that I love you Lucas." Florian moaned out as he broke away from her mouth and went down her neck with kisses. "Otherwise I would be screaming at you right now."

"I wouldn't be so sure about that." He breathed hotly against her lips, inches apart and looking right into her eyes. "I'm going to make you scream my name." He nipped her earlobe for a second. "Later tonight, my room."

"As fun as that sounds... who wants to wait." She grinned as they got right back into it, roughly making out against the wall, both of them pushing against each other with a passion that was unrivalled by any other couple. "Come on old man, you can do better than that." She teased as he kissed her now exposed shoulder.

"Old man? I'll have you know that I'm in my prime." He growled out. "I'm thirty three, not seventy three you horny pervert."

"That's funny, coming from the guy with a massive erection just from kissing me." Florian fired back, a smug smile on her face. "I don't think you have a leg to stand on here."

"Shut the fuck up and kiss me Flo." He whispered to her, to which she obliged again, this time wrapping both legs around his waist as he held her in the air and pushed her back onto a wall, the two only being separated by their need for air, but that was only for a few seconds before they connected again, both of their respective iris' diluted and filled with a lust fueled haze.

"Ahem." Someone interrupted them with a cough. "I leave you two for five minutes to put Frieda into bed and give Misako something to keep her busy, and you two are almost having sex on the wall in the dining room." Uri glared hard at Lucas.

"Sorry Uncle Uri." Florian apologised as she hastily fixed her clothes and hair. "We got a bit carried away."

"What about you Mr Ackerman?" Uri gave him another glare. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"I don't know why Frieda did that, I was just as surprised as you two were." Lucas admitted. "Probably gone insane from being married to a freak like Inocencio for so long."

"Yes, that freak just happens to be in the good graces of my brother Rod, who happens to be the king, you do remember that, don't you?" Uri sighed in annoyance. "When either of them finds out, he will send Kenny after you, I do hope you realise this."

"That guy's like sixty years old Uri, the fuck's he gonna do to me?" Lucas snorted. "Maybe he'll blow me away with a wheeze, that might be his only option."

"He might be getting older, but his squad definitely isn't." Uri reminded him. "They're getting younger and better by the year, you will die if they come after you in full force."

"I won't let them do that Uncle Uri." Florian spoke up. "We'll just tell my father that me and Lucas are dating, surely he'll understand that I'm happy with him, right?"

"Sure have me convinced Flo?" Lucas sarcastically remarked. "Maybe he'll invite me round for tea as well, maybe we'll be drinking buddies eventually, it's not like I've ever shat on the ways he planned to kill his daughter in a discreet manner."

"Unfortunately, Florian, your father will not be as accepting of your relationship with Mr Ackerman as I and Frieda have been." Uri told her, which shattered her hopes completely.

"Then what do we do?" Florian was stumped now, every option ended up in disaster.

"You Florian, will talk to Frieda once she wakes up and ask politely." He emphasised the importance of 'politely'. "Why she did what she did, without resorting to more violence, understood?"

"Yes Uncle Uri." Florian responded. "I'll try my best to not hit her after what she did."

"Good, now go check up on her." Uri ordered, which was followed by Florian exiting the large dining room and heading towards Frieda's room.

"When are you going to tell her?" Uri asked Lucas once he was sure that Florian was out of earshot.

"Tell her what exactly?" He asked rather boredly.

"That Misako is actually your child and not Javier's." Uri gave him an icy glare.

"The fuck are you talking about old man." Lucas insulted him. "Why the fuck would you even think that, I know that Frieda's crazy, but I didn't realise that you were too."

"Do you really take me for a fool Mr Ackerman?" Uri harshly asked him, he was usually very nice, but seeing him angry was something completely different. "Misako embodies all the traits that an Ackerman would, the emotionless looks and tone of voice, the instinct for battle, something that you should be acutely aware of."

"You have no clue what happened that night old man." Lucas hissed at him. "Don't pretend you understand, or know what the fuck you're talking about."

"I knew about your affair with Frieda, Mr Ackerman." Uri told him rather bluntly. "I knew that you two would meet in secret, away from any prying eyes. Now it seems that Frieda is keen to go back to the way that you two were, how will you tell Florian about this?"

"That was a long time ago." He said. "If she tries to bring the past to the present, I'll tell her what I told her back then, that we're finished."

"If you don't tell Florian, then I will." Uri declared. "You have to tell her Mr Ackerman, it won't help your relationship with her if she finds out from someone else either."

"You expect me to tell my girlfriend that I slept with her older sister when she was twelve years old, got her pregnant, shunned away from the responsibilities of being a father, and still expect her to stay with me, is that right?"

"I don't expect that last one, but yes for the rest." Uri told him rather honestly. "You need to have trust in your relationship Mr Ackerman, and if you don't trust Florian with that knowledge, then why should you be with her at all?"

"Tch, old man. Fine, whatever, I'll tell her later today." Lucas reluctantly responded, but Uri held his gaze. "Fine, I'll tell her after she's finished talking to Frieda." He conceded defeat at this point, it wasn't going to be pretty.

"Good man, you'll feel much better once you get it out of your system." Uri perked up now, to which Lucas snorted at.

A few minutes earlier, Florian was nervously standing at the door to her sister's room. She shouldn't have to be nervous, but after what happened, she had every right to be.

Lucas had been her bodyguard since she was nine years old, which would have made Lucas and Frieda both seventeen at the time. That kiss hadn't come out of nowhere, there was definitely something going on between the two of them, it was obvious to her and anyone else.

Florian and Lucas had been dating in secret for four years, ever since her twenty first birthday when she made him drink until he couldn't walk straight anymore, which led to them having sex and then getting together the next morning after a very awkward exchange between the two.

Lucas hadn't done anything to indicate that he was unfaithful to her, but Frieda on the other hand, Florian was sure that her gaze was on him too much for normal, and her touches lingered too much for it to be just friendly.

Taking a calming breath, Florian knocked loudly and slowly opened the door to the room. Once opened, Florian immediately spotted Frieda sitting up on the bed, and gently holding an icepack to her cheek while looking rather down.

"Florian!" Frieda immediately perked up. "Why did you hit me?" She looked hurt after saying that, but she had no right to look hurt.

"What kind of question is that?!" Florian's temper exploded. "You just pushed my boyfriend up against the wall and practically molested him! That's why I hit you!"

"Lucas is your boyfriend?" Frieda questioned, that was so strange to her, everything seemed to be here. "But... but... he's too old for you!" Frieda blurted out.

"Are you serious right now!" Florian exploded once again. "Me and Lucas have been dating for four years, and you say he's too old for me, when you gave us your blessing when you found out about us! What happened Frieda? You're like a completely different person today."

"You're right Florian, I am a different person today. That's because when I woke up, I realised something important today, and you know what that is?" Frieda asked. "I woke up and realised that I love Lucas, and I want to be with him."

"What the fuck Frieda!" Florian shrieked. "You're married! You can't just say you love someone out of nowhere and expect everyone to just do as you say! You realise how selfish you're being right now?!"

"I don't care Florian. I've known Lucas far longer than you have, and I'm 100% certain that I will prevail in this battle for his affection." Frieda declared.

"What makes you so sure about that?" Florian questioned. "Me and Lucas have been together for four years, we love each other."

Frieda gained an innocent smile on her face at that question. "Because we have something that you two don't... a child."

"What?" Florian looked to have gone vacant in her mind. "But that would mean..." Florian realised exactly what that meant, and it broke her heart. "You're so selfish Frieda, you know that. You were always father's favourite, always the one who wanted to be nice, to do the right thing, to be the hero." Her voice broke at the last part of that sentence.

"Florian I- I..." Frieda didn't know what to say. This couldn't be happening, it can't be happening.

"Don't Frieda, just don't." Florian was fully crying now. "Congratulations, you win, are you happy now. Let's see how long your love lasts when Father has Kenny hunt Lucas down until he's dead." Florian slammed the door shut as hard as she could, crying her eyes out as she ran down the corridors towards her room.

As she ran round the corner she barged straight into the last person she wanted to.

"Hey Flo, I wanted to talk to you." Lucas said not noticing her hurt and tear stained face. "I need to say some-" He then noticed the tears on her face. "What's wrong Florian?" He demanded. "What happened?"

"Frieda told me, that's what happened." Her voice was hoarse and broke. "You asshole, what the hell is wrong with you? Why didn't you tell me?" She didn't have the energy to shout or scream, only to talk softer and softer.

"I was going to Florian, but I didn't know how to bring it up." He reached out to her, only for her to pull away slightly out of his reach.

"I thought we had something between us Lucas, that we were meant to be together..." Florian paused to take an uneasy breath. "I'm in love with you Lucas, but right now it feels like I was just a replacement for Frieda because you couldn't have her."

"Florian that's not true." He protested firmly. "Me and Frieda were together, but that was a long time ago, I got over her a long time ago." He insisted. "You're who I want to be with, Florian, please..."

"Please don't talk to me Lucas." Florian told him with the most recluctance she had ever felt. "Frieda obviously loves you, it's her you should be with." She ran away before he could get another word in.

Letting out a depressed sigh in defeat, Lucas turned and headed back to the dining room where he could sit down.

Frieda had fucked up big time, even she could figure that out. She had been so fixated on that fantasy of saving her people that she didn't think about how it would affect those around her.

Now she was either having a mental breakdown from all the stress she put up with, or this was all a fantasy inside her head as well. But this felt so real, so sge would treat it as being real.

The first order of business was Florian, she was obviously distraught, and she didn't exactly help after telling Florian that she was in love with her apparent boyfriend.

However, the only way to fix this ws to go to the source of their troubles, the man they were both in love with. Lucas Ackerman.

Finding him was easier that she thought it would be, but when she did, she wished she hadn't. He looked depressed beyond belief, a beaten and distraught look on his face as well, leaning on the palm of his hand while he stared blankly at the table, refusing to even look up when Frieda sat across from him.

"Haven't you done enough?" Lucas asked once he realised that she wouldn't move. "What's gotten in to you Frieda? We ended it over a decade ago, why are you bringing it back up now?"

"Lucas, does Florian make you happy?" Frieda ignored him and asked a question of her own. He responded with a 'huh', so she clarified what she meant. "The past few years you've been with Florian, were you happy with her?"

"Yes." He responded instantly. "Not that it matters anymore, she won't change her mind on anything, you should know that by now."

"Lucas, all I wanted was for you to be happy." Frieda explained. "When I woke up this morning, I didn't remember anything from the past thirteen years or so, only that before that we were together." She slightly lied to fit the narrative she was trying to take him through.

"I thought that I could make you happy if we were together." She explained. "I now see that I was completely wrong and out of line to assume that. Look, what I'm trying to say, is that if Florian makes you truly happy, then I'll help you win her back. If you're happy, I'm happy."

Instead of smiling like she thought he would, he scowled at her instead. "Did I say something wrong?" She asked instinctively.

"Do you know what time it is?" He asked her.

"What?"

"Wake up you lazy woman, how the fuck can you sleep through all that crying?"

"What are you talking about?" Frieda asked.

"Tch, wake up or I'll sleep in a separate bed the next time I'm here."

Frieda blinked, but once her eyes opened again, she was back in her bed, but this time Lucas was standing over her.

"Why the hell are you always so lazy Frieda?" He asked, quite irritated. "I've been up half the night getting Misako to stop crying, and you were happily sleeping away that whole time. I get that you have to constantly do this because I'm away, but sleeping until midday is just plain lazy."

"It was all just a dream..." Frieda muttered to herself. "It felt so real."

"You can dream later tonight when you sleep, get up before I drag you out of bed Frieda." Lucas was getting more annoyed that she was ignoring him. "Your hair is a complete filthy mess, if you don't ho and clean it, I'll drag you out of bed and wash it myself."

"Lucas... are you happy?"

"Does it look like I'm happy right now?" He deadpanned.

"Not right now, I meant are you happy... with me? Does being with me make you happy, or are you only doing it because of Misako?"

"Frieda..." He used his fingers to delicately tilt her chin up as he sat down on the bed next to her. "Look, I may not be the best at conveying how I feel, but you do realise that if I wasn't happy then I would tell you."

"So you wouldn't leave me if someone better came along?"

"Does this answer your question you idiot." He said before softly pressing his lips up against hers, moving his hand from her chin to her cheek so he was cupping it.

Pulling away from her, Lucas could see the radiant smile on her lips, it would be enough to make any battle hardened soldier smile as well, even he couldn't resist the faintest of smiles making its way across his lips when he saw her smile.

"Where's Misako?" Frieda asked, smiling even more when she saw that Lucas had a smile on his face as well.

"She's downstairs with Florian, she wanted to look after her for a few hours. They've been together for about an hour now."

"Misako will need to feed soon." Frieda brought up. "That means that you'll need to eat as well."

"I already had lunch." Lucas dismissed her touching concern. "Unlike some people, I have meals on time."

"I wasn't talking about lunch." She put her arms around his neck and quickly sat in his lap. "I was talking about eating something a bit more... salty."

"Horny pervert." Lucas muttered. "No thanks, but I'd rather not have your little sister walking in on us having sex just because we had a little time to ourselves."

"Please, I need you like you wouldn't believe." Frieda pleaded. "I had the worst dream last night, please, just 1 quick round." She looked at him with the puppy eyes.

"I can't believe that I'm agreeing to this, fine." He conceded. "You get one orgasm then we're stopping, and you better not try and hide it, I'll know if you do, then you won't get to do any more of your pervert fantasies for a while."

What he said didn't matter to Frieda, all that mattered was that he was happy with her, and now she would get the chance to show him how happy he makes her just by telling her that he wouldn't leave her.

 **A/N- Another chapter done! I've got my groove for writing back now! This chapter was a bit different from the others, instead it tackled some of the lingering insecurities that Frieda had about their relationship, and has now gotten past these insecurities and come out even stronger as a result. But not to fear, there will be Titan action in the next chapter as the Scouts try and capture a Titan. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed!**


	13. Spinal Fluid

**A/N- DarkJokes- Lucas is an Oriental by blood since his mother is, but because genetics are very random most of the time, you wouldn't be able to tell just by looking at him, you would need to know his mother or sister to know for sure. Also, Lucas and Mikasa may seem distant, but deep down they love each other very much. They aren't exactly the type of people to have s heart to heart are they?**

A few days after he had managed to escape the clutches of his pervert wife and his seemingly attention seeking daughter Misako with the amount of crying that she did, Lucas was finally back in the environment that he felt most comfortable in.

Strangely enough, most people wouldn't dare to go where he felt the most comfortable, and that was because he was riding his horse in Wall Maria territory, which was occupied by Titans.

Since it was winter, it was a rather cold morning to have an expedition. There was a slight frost on the grass, giving it a white look to it, his breath was visible when he breathed out and he was quite cold, all in all, not the greatest weather for an expedition, because having half your forces freeze to death is apparently worth a little Titan spinal fluid.

"Lucas, what are we doing out here on a day like this?" Nanaba asked as she and Gelgar both rode alongside him, her fingers were going numb due to the cold.

"I'd like to know that too Captain." Gelgar added in. "It's freezing out here, we might actually get hypothermia if we don't get back soon."

"Look inside your saddle bags, if you two were paying attention then you would notice that I gave you both something." He ignored their question, they both opened their saddlebags to reveal a knapsack filled with hot water.

"How did you think of this?" Gelgar asked, slightly embarrassed that he hadn't thought of that earlier.

"By using my common sense Gelgar." He deadpanned. "You two are lucky, I didn't see anyone else heating up water, and I made two more just for you two."

"Thanks Captain, I don't know what I'd do without you." Gelgar grinned at him. "But seriously, why are we having an expedition in freezing cold conditions like this, I could be drinking in front of a fire right now."

"If you want a simple answer, it's because Erwin and Hange have been planning this expedition for months." He told the both of them. "The long answer is that Erwin gave Hange the go ahead to capture a Titan out in the field and run a number of experiments on it. They've been planning this expedition for months, and Erwin won't let a little cold get in the way."

"Surely he could've waited a few months so that we wouldn't have the possibility of freezing to death out here." Gelgar voiced his concerns. "What's so important about the Section Commanders experiments anyways? Anyone can see that she's crazy."

"While I won't disagree that Hange is quite insane Gelgar, even I have to agree that these experiments are important." Lucas told him. "The freezing cold means that the Titan's muscles will become harder to move for them, even with their overheated body temperatures, their outer body will still lose a lot of heat, which will cause their muscles to stiffen up and make our jobs easier."

"That doesn't explain what it is exactly that we're doing this far forward in the formation, we're usually a little further back with the supply wagons, were almost on the vanguard here." Nanaba brought up.

"There's a village not to far south of here, we need to secure it so that the supply wagons carrying Hange's Titan capture cannons can pass through without being destroyed." Lucas explained. "This is also a test for you two, Erwin asked me to form a squad of the best soldiers in the Scout Regiment, you were my first picks, if you survive this, you'll be the first members added to the Special Operations Squad."

"So you're sending us into a potential suicide venture, just to see if we are good enough to make your elite squad?" Nanaba simplified it, mainly for Gelgar.

"I wouldn't put you two into a situation like this if I didn't think you could handle it well enough." Lucas replied, turning his head to face her. "You should honestly take it as a compliment that you're getting this opportunity, there are plenty of others in the Scouts that have skill or potential to be great, I just happen to know that you and Gelgar have both."

"Come on Nanaba, lighten up." Gelgar tried to lift her spirits. "Lucas wouldn't let us die, we're his best friends." Noticing that Lucas didn't even acknowledge him, his face contorted into one of fake hurt. "You would let us die, after all we've been through, that's cold." He remarked.

Instead of responding to what was obvious bait to get him to admit that he did care for his friends, he took notice of the two red flares that came up into the sky to the south of them. "The spotters on the front row have spotted at least two Titans when passing the village." He announced. "Be on your guard, always expect the spotters to miss a few Titans."

"Lucas." Nanaba rode right up next to him and grabbed his forearm. "What's really going on? Why are we out here in this weather?"

He hated this, lying to his friends. He was supposed to trust them, he did trust them, they were the people he trusted the most, because he knew that they would always have his back no matter what situation they were in. Ever since he met them and became friends, the three of them were inseparable, even after he became colder he still wouldn't be seen apart from one of them.

"I can't tell you that Nanaba." He replied, but didn't shrug her arm off. "I want to tell you both, but all I can say is that you will both be fine. I know you can do this, so don't start doubting yourself because you think that I don't trust you, that goes for you as well Gelgar." He turned to look at Gelgar as well.

"I've never told this to anyone, but I trust you two more than anyone else in this world." He told them. "My sister joined the cadets earlier this year, but I'm pretty sure that she's started to realise what a shitty brother I've been to her, she didn't even put her trust in me when it counted." He kept his face blank, but they could hear the disappointment in his voice, not at her, but himself.

"From what you've told us, you're nothing but a great older brother to Mikasa." Nanaba interjected. "Weren't you the one who bought a house so she wouldn't have to watch her mom and the woman who took her in walk into Titan territory and never come back?"

"She's my mother as well Nanaba, you really think I'd let her die out there? Besides, I didn't pay for that house, they all know that." He weakly replied.

"That doesn't change the fact that you did help them out anyway, without you asking for help, they would've been dead by now." Nanaba reminded him.

"Come on Lucas, you're not that bad of a brother." Gelgar chimed in. "If I was her, I'd think the world of you for saving my mom. Trust us on this, as unfriendly as you try to be, you're one of the nicest people we know Lucas. You're the only person I've seem outright disobey an order just so you could save someone who was presumed dead after her squad was wiped out by Titans."

"You guys are the absolute worst." He replied, silently thanking that it was so cold, otherwise his face would have burned up from embarrassment. "I only went after Ilse because Hange was thinking about having her help with some of her experiments, and I wanted her off my back for a while."

"See Nanaba." Gelgar smirked. "He does care about his friends, just have to get past that cold exterior first."

"Too right Gelgar." Nanaba grinned right back at him. "You should've seen him one time when I cut my hand, dragged me right over to the nearest cold water tap. I don't think I've ever seen someone so concerned over a paper cut before."

"Quiet!" He ordered. "The village is right ahead, don't lose focus and you'll be fine. I'll take the north side, you two take the south side." He announced.

They were approaching the village fast, when the were fifty metres out, Lucas drew one of his blades and stood up on the sadle. "Spread out, watch out for any additional Titans that weren't accounted for, and watch your footing, the rain last night would have iced the tile roofs."

"Sir!" They both responded as they watched him leap from the horses back and quickly grapple from one rooftop to another to the north part of the town.

"Come on Nanaba, I bet I can kill more than you." Gelgar challenged her.

"In your dreams Gelgar." Nanaba smugly responded, drawing both of her blades and leaping from her horses back. "Can't kill any Titans from down there." She taunted.

"Oh it's on." He smirked, drawing both his blades and going after her.

Nanaba swung around one of the taller buildings and spotted two Titans slowly lumbering through the street. "Gelgar! One ten metre and a seven metre!" She called out to him.

"Distract the ten metre Nanaba!" He yelled back. "I'll get the seven metre!"

"On it!" She responded. "Hey big guy!" She yelled to get the ten metres attention. "Come follow the pretty girl!"

The Titan turned it's attention from Gelgar to Nanaba, and swung it's hand at the roof she was on, only for her to jump off and grapple further down the street. "Come on big guy! Am I not tasty enough for you!"

Gelgar on the other hand, was having difficulty with his footing, he kept on slipping on the icy rooftops. "Damn ice, I keep slipping." He muttered through gritted teeth.

The seven metre Titan tried to jump and get it's hands on him, only to slam it's ugly face into the edge of the rooftop. Gelgar took advantage of this, swinging around the Titan and cutting the back of one of it's knees, causing it to slide down the side of the building, taking tiles and bricks down with it.

"Ha! Gotcha now!" Gelgar yelled, coming in for a clean slice at the nape, killing the Titan with some difficulty, but dead nonetheless. "Take that big guy! Looks like size isn't everything after all."

Immediately remembering that he wasn't the only one here, his eyes snapped over to where Nanaba was distracting the ten metre a few houses away. "Heh, looks like an easy kill for me." He grinned, it was like taking candy from a baby.

Nanaba was dealing with this ten metre quite easily, despite the icy rooftops making her cautious of how fast she moved, it seemed like the cold weather was affecting the Titan as well, it didn't seem to be as fast as it should've been, so it allowed her some freedom of movement when it came down to running or jogging away from it's grasp.

Seeing that Gelgar's Titan was down, Nanaba set to work on her own one. She waited for it to make a move on her, avoided the slow moving swing of the Titan by jumping back out of the way and shot a hook into one if it's cheeks, reeled hereelf in and slashed at they eyes of the monster.

The Titan roared in pain and it's hands were instantly going up to the eyes, the mindless being going completely blind from the blonde haired woman's attack.

Right before she could go in for the kill, Gelgar appeared out of nowhere and slashed the nape wide open.

"Too slow Nanaba." He cockily smirked at her as he landed on a rooftop. "That's two more for me, now I'm only three kills behind you."

"Don't forget about your assist count Gelgar." Nanaba smirked back at him. "I'm still seven ahead of you in that regard, also, you could have got us killed there, you didn't have to be so reckless like that."

"Whatever." Gelgar waved her concerns off. "We've finished our jobs here anyway, I'm sure Lucas cleared out the north side before us anyway."

"Do you really need to even consider that he didn't?" She rhetorically asked. "He could probably clear a village of Titans with a toothpick and a knife."

"He's not a god Nanaba." Gelgar snorted. "He just happened to go from being the worst I've ever seen at the ODM gear, to the best, withing about two days."

As the two continued to chat on the rooftop, waiting for Lucas to regroup with them. They failed to notice a rather large Titan on all fours peeking it's long head over the top of one of the houses. In fact, they only noticed it when they heard some stone crumble underneath it's foot and their heads snapped towards it.

"Gelgar, move!" Nanaba yelled as the Titan jumped straight at them, narrowly missing them as they moved out of the way, with the Titan going face first through the building they were on.

As Nanaba grappled to the building adjacent to the one they were just on, some debris hit her ODM gear right as he was about to land, causing her foot to slip backwards and send her crashing onto the tile roof, hitting her head as she was unable to slow her momentum.

"Nanaba!" Gelgar yelled as he saw her struggle to get back up after hitting her head. "Damn it." He muttered, seeing the Titan get back up and look over at her instead of him. "Oh no." He paled instantly.

Immediately going into action, Gelgar moved to intercept the Titan before it could get near her, successfully managing to get to her before the Titan did.

"Come on Nanaba, get up." He tried to help her up, but the weight of her was too much for him to instantaneously pick up and move.

"Gelgar..." Nanaba groaned. "The flares..." She shakily tried to lift herself up, only to fall back down. "Black for abnormal, it'll destroy the wagons otherwise."

"O ye of little faith Nanaba, we'll both be fine." He tried to sound optimistic, but it was really failing him once the Titan got closer and closer, giving him a good look at the teeth that would be crunching on his bones shortly. "Oh shit... this isn't good."

Right as it prepared to pounce on the little prey, the ears of the Titan twitched, and it's eyes moved to the left to see what it was, only to see nothing coming from the left.

Once it looked back at the easy meal, all it saw was a green and black blur shooting wt it before being blinded and having something extremely sharp left inside of it's eyes.

Backing away from the abnormal Titan that was thrashing in pain, Lucas turned to Gelgar. "Get the bandages from the horse, the rest of the village is clear, I made sure of it."

"I knew you wouldn't let us die." Was the only thing he said, though it was accompanied by a smile from the cocky Scout.

Setting his sights on the thrashing Titan and trying to apply a strategy for taking it down was going to be useless, the speed of the thrashing would make it impossible to accurately get a hook into the neck for a pass on the nape.

Well, for any normal person it would be, but for him he just needed to see a pattern in the seemingly random movements. Every few thrashes, the head would spring up, then right back down, that was it. He just needed to time it right and the neck would move itself into the line of his hook.

Watching a few more repetitions of the movement, he fired the hook and it sunk right into the neck, he wasted no time in reeling himself in and cleaving straight through the nape and right back to where his friend was.

"Nanaba, are you alright?" He asked, taking a knee and helping to sit up, looking at the wound on her head with a look of concern all over his face.

"I'll be fine, I just bashed my head on the tiles." She replied, although his concern was quite justified, she was a big girl, she could take care of herself.

"Lucas, I got the bandages." Gelgar handed them over to him. "I also rounded up the horses and hitched them down below us."

"Good." He simply responded. "Fire a yellow flare. Erwin will know what it means."

"Okay." Gelgar replied and went about following his orders while Lucas looked at the wound on Nanaba's head even further.

"What happened here?" He softly asked her, it was quite strange to hear him talk like that, but he felt it was necessary to do so. "You're usually reliable Nanaba, how did the Titan get the drop on you two?"

"We killed the first two, then that one came out of nowhere." She explained as Lucas wiped away some of the blood from her forehead. "We didn't check the area thoroughly enough Lucas, I'm sorry- Ow!"

"What did I say about apologising for something that can't be fixed." He frowned at her, and took his finger away from the cut on her head. "Don't apologise for something that can't be changed or fixed Nanaba."

"That still doesn't change the fact that we failed you." Her head dropped.

"Nanaba." He lifted her head up so that he could look her in the eyes. "I didn't expect you two to be able to overcome every obstacle that you come across." He started to put the clean bandage around her forehead.

"Plus, you didn't fail." He turned to look at Gelgar. "The criteria for success was to not die, and as far as I'm aware, you're both still here."

"Yeah, I guess we are." She smiled as he put the finishing touches on the bandage. "Hey Gelgar, how about a drink when we get back?"

"That's what I like to hear." He smiled back at her. "What about you Lucas?"

"While I would usually remind you that drinking while on duty would get you punished, I can't. I have to go back to Sina for the new year and I won't have the time to have one before I leave." He explained, though Gelgar wasn't having any of it.

"Come on Lucas, surely you have time for one drink before you go back to see her again, or are you too good for us Wall Rose residents now?" The man may have been cocky and arrogant most of the time, but he most definitely knew how to get Lucas to agree to something like a drink.

"Tch, fine. One drink, that's it." He settled for a compromise. "Now come on Nanaba, we'll get you onto a supply wagon when they pass, you're in no condition to ride like this."

Around ten minutes later, the supply wagons arrived at the village on the way to the forest of giant trees, and Nanaba was safely put on the third wagon, while Gelgar joined the wagon defense squad, Lucas was riding at the front of the supply wagons alongside Hange.

"Hange, the forest is coming up, are you sure that the cannons work properly?" Lucas asked to get rid of any lingering doubts about the device. She might be insane, but she was the smartest person he knew by a mile.

"Don't you have any faith Captain Shorty." She teased. "The capture device will work just fine, it's the test subject that I'm really worried about. We don't know if they can feel pain, or if they know what we're doing to them. What if they think we're monsters to them? What if-"

"Hange!" Lucas stopped her rambling and grabbed onto her arm. "They are just mindless beings Hange." He tried to calm her down. "After we're done, we'll kill it to put them out of their misery, it's better this way, to at least understand how they work so less Scouts get killed in the process."

"See, that's why we're such great friends!" Her attitude did a complete one eighty, and went back to her enthusiastic, cheerful self. "Wait! I forgot about Moblit! Where's he at?"

"Moblit's back in the second wagon making sure the cannons you made don't explode Hange." He deadpanned. "As smart as you might be, you tend to get overexcited with what your working on, that includes when you're handling gunpowder."

"Science has no time for safety measures Captain Shorty." Hange said in a sing song voice. "It only makes it more exciting."

"Hange! Get serious!" He hissed at her. "I don't want to get my arm bitten off by a Titan because you couldn't tell me whether or not the device fucking works! I'm the one doing all that shitty experiments while you all stand back, do you want to explain to my wife why I didn't come back from this expedition?"

She could see the seriousness in his eyes, it was frightening to be honest. "Yes it will work Lucas." She rarely used his name, so he could instantly tell that she was being serious. "I didn't think of the risks you were putting yourself into, sorry about that." She rubbed the back of her head.

"Tch, whatever Hange." He scoffed. "As long as I don't lose an arm, I'll be fine."

Once the supply wagons reached the forest of giant trees, they went about a mile in before they started getting everything set up. The spotters and other Scouts from the east and west wings were ordered to prevent any Titans from following the centre rank into the forest.

Bringing up the rear of the centre rank was a squad of three led by Mike Zacharias containing two brand new recruits who showed a lot of potential and passed the standard background check with zero discrepancies.

Petra Ral was a young woman in her late teens and fresh out of the cadets earlier in the year. She had light ginger hair and amber coloured eyes, she had also gained a reputation earlier in the year for pissing herself on her first expedition.

Oluo Bozado also graduated from the same group of cadets as Petra, so he was also around the same age as her, and coincidentally enough, he also pissed himself on the same expedition she had. He had brown hair that was slightly curled into an undercut, with hazel eyes to accompany them.

The reason they were fast in bringing up the rear was that they were leading a Titan intk the forest for reasons unknown, only that Section Commander Zacharias picked them to help him do it.

"Section Commander!" Petra called out. "The Titan is gaining on us! It's gonna be on top of us any second!"

"Be quiet and keep riding Ral!" Mike barked at her. "Keep looking forward and you'll be fine."

That didn't help settle her or Oluo's nerves as the Titan reached out to them, but missed by about two metres or so.

"Section Commander, I can put the Titan onto it's knees!" Oluo suggested. "Just say the word!"

"You'll do no such thing Bozado!" Mike warned him. "Keep your eyes on the ground!" He ordered.

" _Damn, even riding away from it I can smell it's breath from here._ " Mike thought as his nose twitched, he wanted to vomit from the smell, but kept it in as he really didn't want to get up close and smell it.

"Sir! It's right on top of us!" Petra yelled out, leaning further forward on her horse to keep away from the reach of the Titan. "We should engage ODM gear!"

"Sir! Give us some orders!" Oluo almost demanded from Mike. "We're sitting ducks like this!"

"Just a little further!" Mike yelled, glancing upwards he saw two figures perched on a tree branch that they were about to pass underneath.

Right on cue, the two figures dropped down from the branch and grabbed onto the two young Scouts, while Mike used his experience to follow them straight back up the large tree, right in time for the Titan to stumble straight into a somewhat large clearing.

"FIRE!" Came the order from Erwin, and the cannons exploded into bright flashes and spiked spears of metal flying straight into the skin of the mindless Titan, causing it to trip and fall over onto it's face.

"Secondary wave fire!" Erwin ordered once again, followed by another volley of cannon fire and spears being launched into the skin of the Titan to hold it down.

Erwin looked to the tree directly above the capture zone, where four Scouts were standing by with a large black net with metal spikes embedded into the underside, designed by Hange to help restrain the Titan even further.

"Deploy the net!" Erwin gave another order, which was followed instantly. "Wagon defense squad, set up a defensive perimeter around the target! Nothing gets in until we're done, understand!"

"Yes Sir!" The chorused reply came from the members of the Wagon Defense Squad as they set about creating a perimeter.

"Haha! Yes! It worked!" Hange punched the air as she celebrated the success of both of her inventions. "In your face Captain Shorty!" She shouted into the trees. "I told you it would work!"

While Hange continued to celebrate her success down below, Lucas couldn't help but feel nervous about this. Not about having to be near the Titan, because he did trust that Hange had taken the necessary precautions before giving the go ahead to test her device in the field.

He was nervous about what would happen once they had a sample of the spinal fluid, because while they had a good idea that it would turn an Eldian into a Titan, they would still have to test it, and it wouldn't surprise him if Erwin made him do it if he thought that he was going soft.

Erwin wouldn't be wrong in assuming that, ever since he came back after disappearing for a few days after the fall of Wall Maria, he became a lot more openly against Erwin's decisions to sacrifice soldiers for the cause of humanity.

He had always been against the deaths of fellow soldiers, even if Erwin claimed it necessary, it never sat right with him. So when he came back while in a relationship with someone he actually liked, and alongside the fact that she was probably one of the nicest people he had ever met, it probably rubbed off on him.

The actions that went with this observation fit in as well, before he wouldn't even bat an eye when Erwin left some soldiers behind and labeled them M.I.A, but afterwards, he became more likely to object, to insist that they should at least look for the bodies.

The breaking point came on the 34th Expedition a few months back, when part of the left wing was ambushed by Titans in a small settlement and only one survivor managed to flee the area. The evidence of a broken ODM gear and wet footprints in the dirt suggested that someone was still alive and wandering around Wall Maria without ODM gear.

Erwin was having none of it however, and immediately declared all the soldiers killed in action, instead of M.I.A, and all the bottled up frustrations of leaving comrades behind exploded out of him.

In a very unusual fit of rage, he told Erwin to 'go fuck himself', and set off in the direction of the footprints to at least look for his fellow soldier.

He returned to the formation about two hours later with another soldier clinging onto him like he was her saviour, which he was. The soldier, a female by the name of Ilse Langnar, had been writing while was running, documenting anything she came across, which caught the attention of Hange because it was a very difficult skill to write properly and legibly while running. So after the Expedition, Hange took her into her own personal squad as another assistant alongside Moblit.

When Erwin was happy that the Titan was restrained properly and wouldn't break free of it's confinement, he gave the go ahead for Hange to begin her experiments with Lucas being the one to conduct them since he wouldn't take unnecessary risks for a better view at the Titans teeth.

"You want me to do what Hange?" Lucas asked in disbelief, did she even realise what she was talking about? Of course she didn't, because she was definitely insane.

"I said you should go and pet the Titan before you stick a needle into it's spinal chord." Hange repeated what she had said. "If he thinks that you're friendly, maybe he won't try and eat you."

"Section Commamder, I don't think Titans work like that." Moblit pointed out. "And I don't think they have genders either."

"Nonsense Moblit! Every Titan is like it's own person, they all look different, act different, surely they can be male or female." She exclaimed. "Don't you agree with me Ilse?"

"Uhh..." Ilse didn't know how to answer that, Hange was being ridiculous, they could all see that, but she was her superior and assistant, so she had to agree with her. "Sure?"

"See, Ilse agrees with me, why can't you two accept the fact that I'm correct?" She put her hands on her hips. "After all, science is always correct."

"She only agreed with you because you terrify her Hange." Lucas responded. "Unlike you Hange, Ilse has been in an extreme life threatening situation, so don't tell me that I should pet a Titans head because you think it'll be friends with me."

Things like this went on for a few more minutes, with Hange suggesting that he do some, quite frankly, absolutely ridiculous things with the Titan, while simultaneously getting Moblit and Ilse to side with her.

Lucas eventually managed to get Hange to shut up so he could go and perform her shitty experiments as a cover for extracting spinal fluid from the Titan.

He began by standing in front of the Titan, to see how it would react to seeing him, the result wasn't surprising as it tried to lunge at him, only to get nowhere as a result of the restraints.

Hange had also ordered Moblit to draw what was happening while Ilse wrote down everything that Hange was saying in relation to what was happening about fifteen feet in front of them.

"Take note of how aggressive Captain Shorty is being while approaching the subject." Hange narrated for Ilse to write down. "The subject may feel targeted, and as a result may try and lash out more often at him." She stopped for a second and saw Lucas glaring at her. "Captain Shorty has now stopped altogether, he may have come across something noteworthy."

"Hange, shut the fuck up and stop narrating everything I'm doing." Lucas scowled at her. "You're not the one standing on top of a Titan with a needle in your hand, so shut the fuck up, and let me do this." He requested.

Hange leaned closer to Ilse so she could whisper in her ear. "Be sure to write down that Captain Shorty lost his temper there."

"Y-Yes Sir." Ilse responded, trying to ignore how close Hange was to her ear right then.

Now that he had finished all of his stupid experiments on the Titan, he was now kneeling down on the back of the Titan, syringe in hand, ready to press it into the spinal chord.

"Please don't break free." He muttered as he slowly pressed the needle into the spine of the Titan, having to press down a bit to get it all the way in, and then pulled the handle upwards to extract the fluid. The syringe slowly filled with the fluid, and it didn't evaporate when the needle was pulled out, leaving only the container, meaning that it was a success.

He flicked the glass container with his finger, to make sure that it wouldn't break if he wasn't careful. It was required to be airtight, because it would most likely evaporate once it touches air, much like any Titan body part that is disconnected from itself.

"Section Commander, what's inside the vial?" Moblit voiced his questions to his superior. "It's not dangerous is it? Because the Captain shouldn't be shaking it about like that." He nodded in the direction of Lucas, who was shaking the glass container with the spinal fluid about like a child with a brand new toy.

Satisfied that it wouldn't break, he put the syringe back into the case it came with and pulled out the second one in the case. Two samples were needed, one was obviously for testing, which would require a test subject. He didn't want to think about it, and the other was for 'field use' in the event a soldier was mortally wounded, and they had captured an enemy shifter to be devoured if need be.

He repeated the process with the second syringe, only this time after he flicked it, the glass cracked and split down the middle, the instant pressure causing it to break and spray Titan spinal fluid all over his face, into his eyes, nose, and his mouth.

Stumbling backwards as a result, he frantically wiped his eyes to get rid of the steaming substance while at the same tim spitting out the fluid as fast as he could. He wasn't fast enough though as he hunched over and started to spew his guts all over the back of the Titan.

"Levi!" Erwin called out.

"Got it!" The small man responded, swooping down to the tree closest to the restrained Titan, watching for any indication that Lucas was about to turn into a Titan.

Once he finished spewing all over the Titan, he started vomiting more, but there was blood mixed in this time, alongside the fact that he felt himself getting lightheaded, so once he was back on his feet and wiped his mouth clean of blood and vomit, he jumped off to the side of the Titan and fell to his knees, his hands the only thing from keeping him from falling face first into the frozen dirt.

Hange by this point had rushed over to see if he was okay, ignoring the fact that he could've turned into a Titan before her eyes, but it surely would've happened by now, even if he got it out of his mouth.

Once she reached him, he gripped tightly onto her sleeve, he tried to speak, but it seemed impossible for him to do so, his throat burned when he tried.

"What is it Lucas?" Hange asked him.

"Th- The g-..." He stopped as it hurt too much to talk, even for him. "The glass..." His voice was raspy, barely any pitch to it, it was as deep as possible, and she could practically hear the pain he was putting himself through just by saying that.

Those were the only two words he got out before he passed out in her arms, his body becoming limp with her arms being the only barrier between him and the hard ground below.

"Hange." Erwin landed beside her. "What happened? Did he say anything?" He inquired.

"I don't know, it looked like it was going fine, then the container exploded in his face." Hange said what she saw. "I thought you had the glass made special for an airtight seal?"

"It was." Erwin confirmed. "Did he say anything before passing out!"

"No... he tried to, but nothing came out." Something was definitely wrong here, she would have to find out when he woke up.

"Hmm... Interesting." Erwin hummed as he picked up the container lying on the floor and inspected the full stringe. "Get him onto one of the supply wagons, we're heading back now, and burn his clothes the first chance you get, we can't take any chances on residue being left on them."

"Load the cannons back onto the wagons!" Erwin ordered the nearby Scouts. "Redeploy the formation and return to Trost District!" He then turned to look at Levi. "Deal with the Titan Levi."

"With pleasure." Levi grumbled as he killed the Titan, putting whoever it was out of their misery.

(Wall Sina)

Frieda Reiss was sat on the edge of the bed in her room, gently rocking Misako back and forth in an attempt to put her to sleep for the afternoon. It was sometimes a difficult task, but she was mostly a good girl about it, especially when Lucas put her to sleep, it was like he possessed some kind of sleeping magic.

Speaking of her husband, she was actually keeping track of him right now. Her eyes glowed bright purple at the use of her Founding Titan powers, the holy inheritance coming in useful for once in her life.

While the powers of the Founding Titan could never be used for war again, the protection of her family was a must if the Reiss line was to continue for generations to come until the Marleyans saw fit to annihilate all Eldians for their crimes against humanity for the past thousand years.

It wasn't something she would ever openly admit or reveal to him, but ever since that night he saved her from a certain death, she had been watching him from afar on every expedition he had been on.

Subtly using her powers to connect herself with a Titan south of Trost and look through their eyes. The only downside to this was that she saw the memories of every single Titan she looked through, some were men, women, even children. Some were Titanised a few years ago, some were even done a hundred years ago.

She felt the pain that all these people went through, memories of being beaten, abused and then thrown down a wall by the Marleyans just for as little as some light entertainment for some officers, others tried to restore Eldian pride throughout their Ghetto, but in the end they were all punished for their crimes, eternity wandering Paradis as a mindless, man eating monster.

Looking through the eyes of a Titan that was hiding behind a tree as the Scouts redeployed their formation and returned to Trost, she contemplated the thought of erasing the memories of this expedition from the minds of every individual within the two Walls. They were obviously up to something sinister and sinful, but Lucas wouldn't do anything to hurt her or her family, she was convinced of that since there had been no attempt on their lives again after Grisha Yeager tried one time and lost miserably.

Grisha Yeager wasn't coming back, that was made obvious when he disappeared entirely when her father tried to find him, leaving only his wife and son behind in a refugee camp in Trost. Of course though, they had been spared from death because it was Grisha that had sinned, not them, so they would get to live until their own death at the hands of whoever it may be.

Being brought out of the trance like state she was in as a result of using her powers when she felt Misako start to cry once again. Her eyes went back to the light blue they usually were as she tried to calm her down once again.

"Shh, don't cry Misako." She cooed in an attempt to silence her cries. "Mommy's here, right here." She assured her child. "Don't worry, Daddy's fine, he'll be home soon. Then we can be a whole family once again."

 **A/N- Another chapter is here! This time focusing on a winter time expedition, because Erwin has no time for weather to get in his way. You may also notice that Lucas has started becoming more... open around people, but that's only because they're his closest friends, and definitely not because Frieda is making him go soft!**

 **Also, about the use of the Founding Titan powers, both Uri and Frieda were able to use their power to protect themselves and their family fron death, therefore the criteria of war isn't met, meaning she is free to keep an eye on her husband without any conflict of intrest from the will of Karl Fritz.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	14. Hiding

It had turned to the year 848 about nine hours ago, but Manami Ackerman had the most pleasant surprise when Lucas came back a few days ago, unfortunately though, that only lasted for a few seconds when she saw the state he was in.

He had a bandage wrapped around his head and over his left eye, his skin around his eye was all red and looked like he had a nasty rash. He also looked very pale, even more so than normal.

It was strange because she couldn't remember the last time he got sick, or even had the cold. He always played her concerns down, saying that his immune system must have been stronger than normal.

This time was different though, it was more than a common cold, especially since he had been bedridden for the past few days, with her having to take days off work to take care of him in this state.

The strange thing to her was that he was married to a Noble that lived within Wall Sina who could afford much better healthcare than they could, but when she asked him why he turned up here, the answer she got was rather strange.

He said that Frieda would dote on him the entire time he was there if he turned up like this. He didn't want to be treated like a piece of glass by someone who was supposed to think of him as an equal.

Strangely enough though, he allowed his mother to dote on him, saying that she wouldn't give up if he tried to stop her. That was obviously his pride getting in the way, hiding from his wife just because he was ill was probably the cutest and pettiest thing she had ever seen him do.

Humming a soft tune to herself as she washed the dishes he had used to eat the soup she had made him for breakfast. It was a song that she sung to him when he was younger whenever he needed calming down when he got scared.

Thinking back to the days before he joined the Cadets, it was great, her, her husband, Lucas and a little Mikasa. She remembered one time when Lucas was eleven and a spider had found it's way into his room, there was a scream and he refused to go back into his room until he was sure that it was gone.

Smiling fondly at the memories of her once innocent little Lucas, she turned her attention to his health now. Something was clearly taking it's toll on him, he wasn't as healthy as he should be, and it wasn't the illness he had, it was her motherly instincs that told her that something was wrong with him.

Her instincts also told her that he wasn't about to open up to her or Mikasa about it. No, there was only one person that would be able to help him through his problems, and ironically enough, that was the person he was hiding from.

After being taken out of her thoughts by a knock at the front door, she quickly dried her hands with thr dishtowel and pulled her sleeves down to look more presentable for whoever it was at the door. Opening the door to see that it was the person she was just thinking about, and her daughter in law, Frieda Reiss.

Frieda was wearing a thick winter jacket that went down to her knees, alongside a pleated skirt that went midway down her shins, accompanied by her favourite black laced riding boots. Misako was wrapped up in blankets and wearing a hat to protect her from the winter cold.

"Hello Mrs Ackerman." Frieda greeted with a smile, carrying a sleeping Misako in her arms. "It's lovely to see you again."

"Is that?" Manami asked, obviously referring to the child in her arms.

"Yes, this is Misako." She gently replied, making sure not to wake her up. "I forgot that you hadn't met her yet, would you like to hold her?"

"If that isn't too much to ask." She replied. Frieda then obliged her by gently and carefully handed over Misako to Manami.

"Isn't she just adorable?" Manami asked as she looked at her granddaughter, realising that it was Lucas' daughter in her hand, the noses were the same. "What colour are her eyes?"

"Blue." Frieda gave a one word answer, smiling at how Manami looked at Misako. "But they're a bit darker than mine, no doubt that's because of Lucas' eyes."

"Yes... would you like to come in?" Manami offered after a second. "I can make you some tea if you like."

"Actually, there's something I needed to talk to you about Mrs Ackerman." Frieda informed her. "Although it gave me the opportunity to bring Misako with me so you could meet her, I'm not in the best of moods right now."

"I'm sorry to hear that, please come in." She let Frieda pass her so she could close the door behind her. "What was it you needed to ask me? I would be glad to help my daughter in law with any problem that you have."

"Thank you Mrs Ackerman." Frieda gave her another soft smile as she sat down at the dining room table, with Manami sitting opposite her. "You see, Lucas promised me that he would return after his latest expedition to spend some time with me and my family."

"Yes, I believe he told me about that Expedition." She replied. "I assume that nothing happened to him."

"Mrs Ackerman, you don't have to lie to me." Frieda gave her a blank look. "I've already been to the Scouts Headquarters to look for him, they said that he left to come here." Frieda gave her another unimpressed look. "Is he here?"

Manami sighed in defeat, she wasn't asking, she already knew that he was here. "Yes, he is here." She relented. "But Frieda, something's wrong with him. He came here in bandages and looking very pale."

"I see..." She didn't sound very concerned. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Lucas is a big boy, he can take care of himself."

"It's not just that, I think there's something else wrong with him." Manami brought up. "I didn't ask because I know that he wont tell me, but I think he'll open up to you." She told her. "You're the only person that I've seen be able to get to his heart from the outside. You've been able to get him to open up like he used to before he joined the Cadets, something happened to him there, something changed him all those years ago."

"Yes, he told me something happened back then." She recalled the time he told her. "Watching your comrade getting mauled by a bear would be very traumatic, especially if it happened when he was only thirteen."

"I know, I was horrified when I found out what happened, I wanted him to leave the Corps so he wouldn't come under any further harm, but he didn't listen to me." She sighed again. "I wish I had done something more to protect him, there are sometimes when I can't bear him leaving the Walls, but there are others when I know he'll come back. What happens if he doesn't come back?"

"Mrs Ackerman." Frieda leaned over the table and grabbed her free hand and held it in her own. "I know that Lucas can be unapproachable, stubborn, prideful, cold, blunt and realistic as he likes to put it, but I know that he will do his very best to come back after every Expedition, and that's because he does care, about you, his sister, me and Misako."

"I know he does, but when you get past all that he's just the sweetest and most selfless boy." Manami let out a soft sigh. "I'm just worried that he'll try and do something that will either cripple him, or he won't come back at all."

"Yes, that does sound like something he would do, except that he would try and deny it." She smiled softly. "Actually, I was going to talk to Lucas, but would you mind telling me what he was like when he was younger?"

"Of course." She perked up instantly at that request. "What would you like to know about him?"

"Anything really." Frieda gave her the freedom to talk about what she wanted. "What was he like before he joined the Cadets?"

"He was the sweetest boy ever." She gushed in response. "There weren't any children around his age in the area that we lived, so he was quite a lonely child, but he used to help me with the housework."

"He sounds like a gem." Frieda commented. "It seems like you did a great job in raising him. That's how I want Misako to turn out when she grows up."

"Maybe for the first twelve years, then she'll become just as reclusive as he was." Manami joked, earning a light giggle from Frieda.

"Yes, that would be most unfortunate." She couldn't get the thought out of her head, Misako in her teens acting just like her father, trying to deny that she needed help for something and looking away with a pout on her face. "There's something else though, do you know what Lucas is scared of? I asked him once, but he refused to answer me, he said that it was embarrassing."

"Yes, he is afraid of something, he says that they're pure evil and should be banished from our world." Manami smiled and giggled a bit.

"What could he be that afraid of?" Frieda asked, a bit unsure if she wanted to know now that Manami had described how he felt about it.

"Spiders." She revealed. "He is deathly terrified of them. He won't admit it, but he will refuse to enter a room if he knows that there's a spider in."

"Wow, I didn't expect that." Frieda admitted. "I expected it to be small spaces that he didn't like."

"I know, he won't admit it, but he refuses to kill them either. He knows they don't do anything wrong, so he just chooses to avoid them completely."

They sat there for a good few minutes, chatting and getting to know one another a little better. In that time, Frieda had removed her jacket and left it on the back of her chair, showing that she was wearing her usual button up shirt.

After another few minutes, Frieda felt that it was time to deal with the actual reason she came here.

"Thank you for the pleasant conversation Mrs Ackerman, but I think that I should go talk to Lucas now."

"Of course." Manami knew that Lucas was definitely in for it now. "He'll be up stairs and the first door on your left."

"Thank you Mrs Ackerman." Frieda gave her yet another radiant smile. "I'll be sure not to hurt him too much when I get my hands on him."

After receiving a chuckle from that, Frieda made her way up the stairs and in front if the door she had told her he was in. Knocking on the door to respect his privacy, she called out to him.

"Lucas!" She sang out as she opened the door. "I've come to see..." She couldn't see him in the room. "You..."

He had definitely been in this room recently, the bed was a mess and his clean clothes were neatly set over the chair at thr desk in the corner.

Opening the window in the room, she looked left and right, half expecting him to be on the ledge of the roof, but didn't see anything.

Taking a closer look around the room, there were tissues in the bin and also a copy of the days newspaper on the nightstand. "Hmm?" She wondered. Maybe he was in the bathroom? That was all she could think of.

That was until she saw the small spider on the side of the nightstand, which made her smile and shake her head. She was about to leave the room to look for him until she heard a shuffling noise right above her.

She looked up towards the ceiling, where a half naked Lucas was hanging upside down on the wooden support beam that went across the room.

"Lucas come down, I can see you." Frieda spoke with a monotone voice, her hands on her hips, indicating that she wasn't happy at all.

"No." He simply replied. "Not until that evil being is out the window."

Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she let the spider climb onto her hand and opened the window for it to climb off her hand and onto the rooftop outside, and then closed the window behind her. "There, happy now?"

Without saying a word, he dropped down from the beam and went straight into the bed, burying himself into the blankets, refusing to look at her.

"Lucas, you do realise that even if you can't see me, I can still see you?" She got no response from him, which was slightly worrying because she had never seen him like this.

With a slight frown coming over her face as her eyebrows furrowed. This was clearly a problem that wouldn't be solved by getting angry, so she decided to take a more gentle and soothing approach to this.

"Lucas." Her voice was much more smooth and gentle this time as she took a seat on the bed. "What's wrong Lucas? Why aren't you talking to me?"

"Why are you here?" Was the only response she got from him.

"Because you didn't show up like you said you were going to." She replied. "I was worried that something happened to you, and seeing that you have a bandage on your head, I was right to be worried."

"Go away." He spoke into the blanket rather coldly. "I never asked you to worry about me, I don't need you to worry about me either."

"It's only natural that I'm worried about you Lucas, we are married after all." She was getting slightly annoyed now, trying to hide it by keeping her voice soft and sweet. "It's okay for you to get hurt, I'll look after you." She tried to reassure him.

"... It's all his fault." He eventually replied. "He gambled again and he crippled me Frieda." He sat up abruptly to look at her. "I can't see with my left eye anymore and my right eye is getting worse by the day. I'll be completely blind by the end of the week at this rate."

"What?" She was in shock at this revelation, she didn't expect it to be this bad, only a bad illness at worst, not him going blind. "How did this happen?" She demanded. "Who was it that did this?" She already knew the answer, but she couldn't let him know that.

"I got something in my eyes... something that I really shouldn't have." It was the only answer she would get for that question, but the other question was still up in the air. "Plus, if you don't know who did it, you really are an idiot."

" _Erwin Smith._ " She thought, now caught in two minds. One wanted to erase his existence completely before grinding him into a paste for causing Lucas such great pain. The other side, her... possessed side... wanted to forgive him, because it was their own fault for venturing outside the Paradise that Karl Fritz had created and every other monarch after had tried to preserve.

"You can't kill him Frieda." He knew what she would be thinking. "He keeps a book that he hid, detailing the life stories of the senior Scouts in case one of us were forgotten about and went missing."

"I wasn't going to do that." She instantly tried to deny it. "He is one of my people, he deserves to live until fate decides that he die."

"What about me though, is it fate that dictates that I'll be a cripple for the rest of my life?" He bitterly asked her.

He lunged forward towards her and wrapped his arms around her, putting his head into her shoulder. "I don't want to live the rest if my life as a cripple Frieda." His voice was now showing raw emotion for once. "I don't want someone to look after me for the rest of my life! I want to be able to see!" His tone then became even more depressed. "I won't be able to see you or Misako anymore, I don't want that to happen." He admitted softly.

"It's okay Lucas." Frieda soothed him by holding him close to her and letting her hand stroke his hair softly. "I'll never look at you any differently if you're worried about that."

"I don't give a shit about how people look at me Frieda." His voice was muffled by her shirt. "I don't want people to treat me like a piece of glass because of this. I've already accepted that I won't get better, but I can still hear, touch, taste and smell, I'll just use those to get about."

Seeing him like this, the most vulnerable she had ever seen him broke her heart. She wanted him to be strong, he still was, but it wasn't the same if he couldn't see. There may be a solution to this predicament, but she wasn't sure if it would work at all, or how much effort she would have to put into doing this for him.

"Lucas..." She wasn't sure if it was the best idea to go through with this, but decided that she would try for him. "How many people know about this?"

"You're the only person I've told." He responded rather sadly. "I'll have to tell my mom soon, and my sister... then the Scouts... I'll be completely useless to them." He let out a sad sigh.

"Lucas, I don't want you to get your hopes up... but I might be able to help."

"Are you gonna pump your magic Titan powers into me or something?" He sarcastically remarked.

"Yes... something like that..." She trailed off as she backed away from him a bit and stood up, taking off her riding boots and starting to undo the buttons on her shirt. "I've never done this before, so I need to remove my clothes before we start. There needs to be no restrictions between our bodies."

"You're such a pervert Frieda." Lucas grumbled after watching her remove her shirt and skirt. "I'm not getting my hopes up because I know that this is one of your perverted fantasies." He deadpanned. "I read your diary, I know that you always want to roleplay as a doctor and me as your patient." He crossed his arms and looked away. "I won't have you take advantage of me sexually while I'm in a state of depression."

"I'll just ignore the fact that you went through my diary without permission and tell you that I'm being deadly serious about this Lucas." She did look extremely serious. "You can keep your boxers on if you really think I'm trying to take advantage of you."

"... Fine." He conceded. "Only if you keep your underwear on as well."

"You clearly didn't listen to what I said Lucas, everything has to come off, but I can keep my panties on as a compromise." She said as she removed her bra and sat down on the bed. "Now put me in your lap and hold me against you as tight as possible, it's the only way it'll work."

Deciding that it would be in his best interests to listen to her, he placed her on his lap and sat back against the headboard of the bed and wrapped his arms aound her, with her knees either side of him and pushing her breasts into his chest as her nipples pressed up against his scarred pectorals, with their noses lightly brushing against each other every so often.

She looked at his right eye, which was red and the iris was fading into a very light colour compared to what it usually was. "Let me have a look at your left eye." She said, gently unwrapping the bandage, which was a bit difficult considering how close they were to each other.

His eye looked horrible, the skin around his eye was all red and looked like a horrible rash, but his iris had gone completely white, giving her the indication that he was definitely blind in his left eye now.

"Don't stare." He mumbled since she hadn't said anything since she had looked at his eye.

"Sorry." She gave him a reassuring smile and placed all of her fingers around his eyes. "You might feel something when I start doing this, but don't try and fight it, just let it happen."

"I thought my bloodline meant that you couldn't do shit like this to people like me." Lucas pointed out.

"Your bloodline means that you don't share the sins that everyone else does." She corrected him. "However, every living being on this earth is connected through the holy power of the Founding Titan. This means that you are as well, which in theory means that I can heal you without you needing to share our sins."

Instead of replying, Lucas remained silent as Frieda began the attempted process of healing him. It started off as rather anticlimactic, with him feeling nothing until Frieda concentrated her powers even more, with him feeling a slight tingling around his eyes.

Realising that it wasn't working as intended, Frieda adjusted her position so that she was now seated in his lap with her legs locked around his back, giving them even more skin to skin contact.

"Is it supposed to burn?" Lucas asked after he started to feel a burning sensation around his eyes. "This doesn't feel nice at all."

"That means it's working." She told him. "Don't try and fight it, it will be a lot easier on you if you don't."

The fact that she was giving him advice despite admitting that she had never done this before definitely wasn't alarming in the slightest, but despite that, he trusted that she wouldn't bring him any unnecessary pain, so he allowed her to continue, even after he felt something pass through her and into him.

Closing his eyes tightly as he felt the burning get worse and even more painful, he grit his teeth and bit on his lip painfully to try and keep his mind off the burning.

"Frieda, it's starting to burn a lot." Lucas just about managed to get out through the pain. "I feel like I'm being cooked alive from the inside."

"It's almost done." Frieda panted, the healing process obviously taking it's toll on her as well. "Just bear with the pain, it will be fine soon enough."

After a few more seconds, he felt like his eyeballs were going to explode from the pain that he was feeling, but trying his hardest to not scream out. "F-Fuck..." He muttered as it got even worse, then there was nothing, no pain, only feeling Frieda slumped against him, her breathing ragged and heavy.

"Lucas..." She tried to get her breathing under control. "Open your eyes please." He could feel her breathing onto his shoulder. "Did it work?"

Slowly opening his eyes, adjusting to the light of the room, his breath hitched in his throat at what he saw. He could see again! He didn't know how, but he could and it was all thanks to Frieda.

"Frieda... it worked." He told her, unable to believe what had just happened. "You fixed my eyes, thank you, really thank you."

"It's nothing." She replied, rather embarrassed that he was so appreciative of her. "Let me see your eyes now."

She leaned back to look into his eyes to see how they were, only to flinch slightly at seeing something that she hoped would have fixed itself.

"What is it? Why did you just flinch?" He was getting worried now, what if something was wrong with his eyes? What if they were going to get worse again?

"Well you see..." She laughed awkwardly. "I may not have been able to heal your eyes in the traditional sense that you would think of." She gave him a very sheepish and awkward smile.

"What do you mean by that exactly?" His brows furrowed as he leaned ever so closer to her. "What did you do then?"

"Well... since I couldn't heal your eyes... I gave you mine instead." She told him all at once, making him slightly confused. "Instead of being dark, your eyes are now blue, like mine."

"What!" He yelled, instantly pushing her off and going through the drawer on the nightstand for a mirror. "You said you would heal me, not give me your eyes. How could you even see if you gave me your eyes?"

"I healed my eyes right after I finished." She replied, sitting up on the bed next to him, showing off almost everything to him. "I'm sorry if it wasn't what you wanted, I should have told you what I was planning on doing."

"Don't be sorry." He said as he examined his eyes in the hand mirror in the nightstand, and they were blue, exactly the same colour as hers. "How am I gonna explain this? It will be very hard to you know."

Before Frieda could answer that, Manami opened the door with Misako still in her arms. "Are you okay Lucas? I heard you shout..." She stopped once she saw how little clothing they were wearing. "Oh... sorry for intruding, I'll just leave you to it."

"Mrs Ackerman!" Frieda panicked and grabbed the bedsheets to keep her modesty. "It's not what it looks like!"

"Mom, please knock the next time you come into my room." Lucas said, rather unfazed by the situation. "Me and Frieda are going out because I feel better now."

"That's great news sweetheart." She replied, slightly annoying him with the use of that name. "I see the redness around your eye is gone as well, did Frieda give you something for that as well?"

"Mom, if you're implying that she healed me by having sex, no she didn't." He replied rather bluntly. "Nor were we about to before you start, Frieda is just a massive pervert."

"Lucas!" Frieda whined, embarrassed beyond belief that he had just said that in front of his mother. "Don't say things like that in front of other people."

"Tch, whatever." He grunted at faced his mother again. "Can you please leave?"

"Sorry, I'll be downstairs." She backed out the door before popping her head back in. "Oh and before you do go out, please take my jacket, it's very cold here in the winter."

He waved his hand to dismiss her, signalling that he got the message and turned around to see Frieda giving him a glare.

"Really?" She didn't look best pleased. "You called me a pervert in front of my mother in law, and how can you talk so casually about us... procreating in front of her?"

"It's not like she thinks that we haven't had sex before, because she was literally holding the product of us having sex." He replied far too casually.

"I guess so..." She wasn't too sure what to think of that reasoning, it was very weird to think about. "But you still called me a pervert in front of her." She reminded him. "I haven't just forgotten about that."

"That's because you are a pervert Frieda... well at least in my eyes you are if that makes you feel better." After receiving a grumble of 'not really' in response, he decided to explain it to her. "The way I see it, you've lived your whole life being taught to be polite and lady like and whatever other shit they taught you, and a lady isn't supposed to flirt, have sex before marriage, or keep a diary and write down their sexual fantasies."

"Yes, I was taught how to be a 'lady' as you call it. I even tried to teach Historia how to be one, but I've always wanted to see whag it was like to be a normal girl." She admitted to him. "When you came along into my life again, I was always curious about how a normal girl would interact with a boy her age, but you didn't exactly make it easy."

"No, but I wasn't in the best of moods back then." He also admitted his own flaws. "I used to insult you all the time, not my proudest moments."

"No, I used to like it when you gave me lip, or ran your mouth about how stupid I was being. I was used to getting what I wanted, but you weren't going to bow down and grovel at my feet as soon as I opened my mouth." She laughed lightly at the memories of him calling her an idiot.

"So you're saying that because I used to call you an idiot... you decided to become a pervert to act like a normal girl?"

"No!" She gave him a cute glare. "I'm trying to say that I'm very forward with you because it's the only time that I don't have to be perfect, I can just be Frieda, and I can spend time with the man I love the way I want to."

"That sounds like some semi-intelligent reasoning." He gave her some credit at least. "But we're gonna talk about your pervert diary later, we're going to the bakery at the other side of town. I've eaten nothing but stew for like five days, and I need something sweet so I don't get sick of eating any kind of food."

Walking over to the pile of clothes she left on the floor, he unceremoniously grabbed her bra and threw it at her, hitting off her face and falling into her lap. "Get up and get dressed pervert, if you're lucky I'll let you buy me something."

Twenty minutes later and they were now outside in the snow infested streets of Trost, both now fully clothed and wearing winter coats to keep themselves warm.

They were walking extremely close to each other, with Frieda having the great idea of holding hands as they walked to the bakery, so she was leaning against him with the fingers of her left hand interlaced with the ones on his right.

"Is this bakery that we're going to any good?" Frieda asked as they walked down the street, the snow crunching beneath their feet. "I like to have my pastries a certain way, can you vouch that they will be delicious?"

"I know the woman that bakes them, so you won't die from eating them." He replied, but he was telling the truth if not hiding the fact that he adored the pastries that they made.

"If you say so." She shrugged his reply off, that was somewhat high praise coming from him. "Is that it there?"

"Yes, come on." He urged her, speeding up slightly. "It will be warmer inside, and it will smell nicer."

He was right, it was definitely much warmer inside and the scent of fresh pastries invaded her nostrils, making her unconsciously take a deep sniff of the air, just wanting something to eat.

"Is that you Lucas?" A female voice came from behind the counter. "I see you're feeling much better considering you're out of bed now."

"Yes Carla, I do feel much better now." He replied. "This is Frieda, Frieda this is Carla." He introduced them both since they hadn't met before.

"It's so nice to be able to put a face on the person I've heard so much about." Carla spoke with a smile on her face and shook her hand. "I'm Carla Yeager, it's a pleasure to meet."

"Yeager." Frieda repeated, her face going dark as she remembered what happened the last time she had heard that name. "As in Grisha Yeager?" Her eyes flickered to purple then back to blue, but Carla didn't seem to notice.

"Yes, Grisha Yeager is... was my husband." She corrected herself. "He went missing a few years ago and there's been no sign of him since."

"I'm sorry to hear that." Frieda apologised, though her voice was quite strained, almost like she didn't want to apologise. "It must have been hard on you at the time, to lose someone who was so dear to you."

"Yes, but I have learned to cope over time." Carla gave her a sincere smile. "But enough about that, what would you two like today?"

They ended up having a doughnut each, with Lucas having to pay extra to have it coated in sugar while Frieda just got a normal one.

"You were right Lucas, they were very good." Frieda commented as she licked the sugar off of her fingers, while Lucas just wiped the excess sugar away on his mothers jacket sleeve.

"Yeah, but there's something else on your mind though." He guessed, which was correct. "Grisha isn't coming back Frieda, he can't hurt your family anymore."

"I know that, but I can't believe that he had a wife and you didn't tell me." She said in a hushed voice so no one could eavesdrop on them. "She could have been a threat to my family as well, you should have told me."

"It doesn't matter now." He waved it off. "She wouldn't hurt a fly, she's far too nice, even you could see it."

"That... may be true, but she still could know something important." Frieda insisted the importance of how he should've told her about Grisha's wife. "You don't know what he told her."

"No, but I do know that she doesn't know anything, because if she did, she wouldn't have been hoping that Grisha would return after his thirteen years were up." He reminded her. "She was hoping that he would return, and I had to tell her that he wasn't seen anywhere within the Walls... it wasn't a very pleasant conversation to have."

"No, you're right... again." She conceded, he was usually right when they disagreed on something, which wasn't very surprising, she was smart after having the best education money could buy, but he was levels above her, in both mental and physical strength and intelligence.

After a few more minutes of mindless chatting about whatever Frieda came up with, Lucas noticed that the same jacket had been behind them for a while.

Lucas abruptly turned and dragged Frieda into the nearest alley and walked around halfway through, much to her confusion. "What are you doing? This isn't the way back."

"Somebody's following us." He gently pushed her up against the dirty alley wall, and brought his face right up to hers. "Just go with it." He whispered as he leaned up and kissed her, trying to make their tail so uncomfortable that they leave.

Even Frieda could tell that the person was still there if the glimpse of the hood poking around the corner was anything to go by, so when they pulled away to catch their breath, she unzipped her jacket and started undoing the buttons of her shirt.

"They won't go away unless they think that we're really getting it on." She explained to him. "Come on, don't be shy." She teased after seeing him look unsure about it.

He didn't really want to do this in a filthy back alley, let alone when he knew that someone was watching, he could have easily caught them or gotten away without much fuss, he just wanted an excuse to kiss her without her teasing him about it.

"Not out here." He blew into her ear as he leaned closer to her and motioned to the door that was behind him. "In there."

The figure watched Captain Ackerman drag the woman through the back door of one of the buildings, and decided against her better judgement to follow and see if she could hear anything useful.

Letting her hood back dowm, it revealed a young blonde girl of thirteen years old, due to be fourteen in March. Her blonde hair tied up into a bun, with her blue eyes able to pierce into someone's skin if she glared hard enough.

All Annie wanted to do was sneak out of training to satisfy her sweet tooth, which led her to the bakery that she spotted the Captain with that women.

She knew that he was married since he always wore a ring on his finger, but they didn't act like a married couple should, so she decided to tail them to see if she could find out anything interesting or useful to her.

Silently stepping closer and closer to the door, she saw that the door wasn't closed and slightly parted open, allowing the sounds of voices to reach her ears clearly.

"Captain!" The woman's voice sounded out, full to the brim with fake shock. "What would your wife think of this? Bending me over like some common street girl, what would she say to this?"

"Shut up and stop talking." A male voice replied, definitely Captain Ackerman. "Be quiet or we'll get caught, which will be bad for both of us."

"It's a good thing I like bad boys." Her voice was sultry and almost had Annie blushing at the tone. "Come over here and give it to me hard and rough, I know you love that."

Deciding to take a closer look at what was happening, she cracked the door open a little bit, only to see the room was pitch black, confused she opened the door even more, only to have the door pulled open and have the wind knocked out of her as a kick to the stomach sent her flying back onto the floor of the outside alley.

Before she could even react, a foot was pressed onto her chest, keeping her locked in place and unable to move, only to hear a disappointed sigh come from above her.

"Leonhart, what are you doing?" He asked her, borderline angry that it was a cadet following him.

"You know her?" Frieda asked, just as annoyed as he was, but she hid it well behind a straight face.

"Unfortunately I do." He took his foot off of Annie and hauled her to her feet. "You're supposed to be training, why are you here?"

"I'm not the one that's being unfaithful." She shot back. "Maybe you should ask yourself that before I tell your wife what you were up to."

"Okay, do it then." He crossed his arms, waiting for her to do something. "I don't give a fuck if you tell my wife what I was up to here, she probably already knows anyway."

"What?" Annie was confused now, did he not care about his relationship with his wife? Or was he calling her bluff? Yes, that was it, but she would stand her ground.

"Okay then, I'll tell her once you let me leave." She crossed her arms in response, sure that she had him beat here.

"Fine then, I'll just have Shadis kick you out of the Cadets for skipping training." He countered. "Desertion is punishable by death, and you have technically left your post, so legally I'm well within my rights as Captain to cut you down where you stand."

Annie stiffened up at that, she needed to pass the cadets for a position within the Military Police, she couldn't let something as trivial as sneaking away for food get in her way.

"Relax, I was just kidding Leonhart. I won't kill you, unless you give me a reason to." He deadpanned, which she didn't find funny at all. "Okay then Annie, I'll keep your little trips to Trost to myself, but you owe me."

"What do I owe you?" Annie asked, her usual tone of voice and emotionless mask now back on once again.

"A favour, but not now, I'll save it for later, now leave before I change my mind and have you hanged." He threatened.

Frieda watched the girl jog away with a certain interest in her eyes, Lucas knew her, and now she knew what that girl was just by being in close proximity to her.

"She's a Titan." Frieda simply said.

"What?"

"You heard me, she's a Titan like me." She repeated. "Female Titan to be exact, fourteen metre class, built for high endurance and hand to hand combat capabilities." She elaborated on her observations.

"You're telling me this why?"

"Because I want you to be safe." She replied, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "Take extra caution around her, never be near her without ODM gear, she could kill you in an instant."

"Are you sure Karl is okay with you telling me all this?" He asked. "I don't want him possessing you again because of what you just said."

"I will not reveal the secrets of the world to my own people." She responded almost blankly. "You do not fall under that category, you are someone I need to protect at all costs, this information could be vital to your survival in the future."

"I see..." He noticed the purple eyes and knew what was happening. "Let's go back now." He grabbed her hand and dragged ger along. "I want to spend some time alone with Frieda, not Karl."

Once they arrived back, they removed their jackets only to notice that Frieda hadn't buttoned up her shirt. So when they had to walk past his mother, she noticed it instantly.

"Frieda and I are going upstairs mom." He didn't give her a chance to speak, instead dragging a very red faced Frieda with him. "Don't come into the room!" He shouted down to her.

"Don't be too loud!" She yelled back up, to him, she definitely knew what was happening there, and went to find something to cover Misako's ears with.

 **A/N- Yet another chapter done! In only a few weeks or so, much better consistency on my part, I'll try and stay consistent for the most part.**

 **Lucas has found himself in a very deep hole though, first with his new eye colour and now he'll have to keep Annie's identity a secret to keep Frieda's identity a secret as well, very confusing, but I do hope you understand, if you don't, just leave a comment and I'll explain it in further detail. Until next time! I hope you enjoyed!!!**


	15. Voices In Her Head

**A/N- TheCarlosInferno- I wouldn't count on that happening, but I would never say never!**

 **Commissar Talpa- Don't worry, I don't plan on letting that happen woth this story!**

 **Enjoy the chapter!**

It had been about a week since Lucas had been discharged from the Scouting Regiment on medical grounds, with one eye in a permanent bandage and him looking a lot paler than usual when he left.

There wasn't a lot of things that Erwin Smith regretted in his life. Sure there was the odd thing, like telling his friends about his fathers theory, which turned out to be true.

There was also Marie Dok, a woman that Erwin had met when he was younger and fallen in love with. However he chose the Titans over her, because he didn't know when he was going to die, which allowed his friend Nile to marry her instead.

Thinking about the condition he had put Lucas in was something he tried to ignore, but he couldn't. Lucas was supposed to have complete trust in Erwin, but that probably went out the window after what he did during the expedition.

What he had done seemed like the logical thing to do at the time, but seeing the consequences made him think that it really wasn't worth it. His best soldier was now put on leave because of him, and there was a good chance that he may never return to service.

He had done something he probably shouldn't have, instead of having two syringes with stronger glass, he had one replaced with a normal syringe, meaning that it would burst with the pressure of the spinal fluid inside.

Instead of just going into his mouth like Erwin had planned to happen, on the off chance that he was like them and turned into a Titan would have been a huge loss, but it would gave told them that the spinal fluid worked like Grisha Yeager explained in the books he wrote in.

As it turned out, just like he said, Lucas wasn't a subject of Ymir like the rest of them presumably were, so he didn't transform into a Titan, but instead he was left with a crippling sickness and a damaged eye.

Letting out a sigh at his own ignorance as he walked through the halls of the Scout Regiment HQ. It didn't help that Hange came asking questions about the syringe either, it was bad enough that one of his trusted soldiers probably didn't trust him anymore, the last thing he needed was another one to doubt him.

Coming up to the door to his office after passing some of the newer recruits that had saluted him as he walked past, he opened the door to see someone who he didn't expect to see there.

"Lucas?" Erwin questioned, shocked that his subordinate was already on his feet again. "How are you here?" Lucas was leaning back in Erwin's chair and had his feet propped up on his desk.

"How else would I get here?" He grunted. "On a horse." He said, lowering his feet from the desk and stretching his legs on the floor. "To be honest Erwin, I thought you were smarter than this."

"The doctor said that you wouldn't be fit for duty for another two weeks though." Which was true, the doctor was the one who put him on leave. "You're supposed to be resting at home."

"I do remember him saying that." Lucas sarcastically remarked. "But surprisingly enough, when you're married to the daughter of one of the richest men in the Walls, they tend to have better doctors there."

"Of course they do." Erwin smiled at his friends quick recovery. "Is there anything else that I should know about?" Erwin asked. "After all, I'm sure that you've realised that it was my fault for what happened."

"Yeah, I realised it at the time, asshole." He muttered the last part, but still loud enough for Erwin to hear him. "You also had my uniform burned, which pissed me off because I had to break into my own office to get one of my spare uniforms and I didn't have a key."

"Ah yes." Erwin remembered doing thaf himself. "I did that so no one could find something that they aren't supposed to." He explained. "Did anyone hear or see you break in?"

"Of course, the sound of a locked door being forced open isn't very quiet." He retorted. "I had Nanaba and Gelgar barge in when I was in the middle of changing, though instead of leaving they decided to hug me."

"Aside from the fact that the lock needs to be replaced on your office, are you alright?" He asked, genuinely concerned about his wellbeing. "Is there anything that that you need?"

"I would say that I chose to change my appearance on my own accord, but it was a forced change though." He gave Erwin a glare. "Can you spot what's changed about me?"

Erwin looked over him with his eyes, not seeing anything particularly different, his hair was the same, his body looked the same, his nose was the same. He scanned over him until he noticed something quite different about him.

Instead of his eyes being the usual intimidating black that he had grown accustomed to seeing, they were a bright baby blue instead, making his gaze seem more welcoming and accepting rather than the intimidation it usually gave out.

"You see it yet?" He asked, being ironic on purpose. "Do you realise how awkward it's been for me to explain this, my mother wouldn't stop asking questions, Frieda was being... well Frieda, Nanaba and Gelgar accepted it as a freak accident, how do I explain this to all the other people here?"

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that would happen." Erwin actually looked regretful, which surprised Lucas a bit, Erwin never showed his emotions that much. "I should never have did what I did, I took a risk that wasn't worth it, for that I'm sorry."

Lucas eyed Erwin, trying to see if there was anything about him to indicate that he was lying, but there didn't seem to be, so he let it go. "Tch, it's fine Erwin, I should have expected it from you anyway." He dismissed what he did, too easily for Erwin's liking though.

"What do you want?" Erwin could tell that he wanted something, especially because the fact that hd could have turned him into a mindless Titan had been dismissed far too easily.

"I see that you haven't lost your great observation skills." Lucas remarked. "What I want?" He tapped his chin in thought. "Would you be open to listening to what I want?"

"I assumed you were going to tell me anyway." Erwin responded, just wanting to get it over with. "What is it you want?" He asked, preparing himself for the worst.

"I want you to have all the paperwork that I need to complete as per my duty as Captain in the Survey Corps to my wife's home in Wall Sina." It was a simple request, but Erwin could tell there was more meaning behind it.

"Why?" He questioned, he wouldn't do something without knowing the details.

"Because I want to work from home from now on." Lucas explained. "I'll still come to strategy meetings and all that shit, but I don't see the problem with having paperwork to do at home considering that's just about all I do here anyway."

"What about training?" Erwin countered, not willing to give in so easily, he expected something more to be honest, so he cpuld work with a request like this. "What about your commitments to the Cadet Corps?"

"I can still train and fulfill my duties as Liaison Officer for the Cadet Corps." He countered back. "It will give me something to do instead of sitting on my ass all day like someone I know."

"You seem to have thought this idea through quite a bit." Erwin observed, he would expect nothing less of him.

"Of course I have." He retorted, leaning forward in the chair now. "This is something that I've wanted to do for a while now."

"They really do make you happy, don't they?" Erwin asked, he wanted him to be happy, after all, they were still friends, or at least Erwin hoped so.

"It's strange, a few years ago I wouldn't have dreamed about doing something like this." He told Erwin. "If you had told me a few years ago that I would be married to someone from Sina on my own accord, I would have shaved your eyebrows off."

"A lot can change in the space of a few years." Erwin replied, looking out the window behind the desk. "Just don't regret your decision, that's about all I can ask of you now."

"I'm not mad at you if that's what you're so worried about." Lucas told Erwin, but it didn't really assure him. "I was pissed off at first, but I'm fine now, so it doesn't really benefit me to stay pissed at you anymore."

"Mhm." Erwin hummed in agreement with him. "That would be rather pointless to hold a grudge." He further agreed with him. "Alright, I'll agree to it as long as you can ensure that your paperwork continually arrives on time."

"I'm sure that can be arranged." He nodded back at Erwin. "Will you arrange for a courier, or will I have to pay for a private one?"

"A private one will get the paperwork delivered faster, but they could also be paid off to look at any... sensitive documents." He gave him the pros and cons of a private courier.

"I'm not going to be sending you my darkest secrets through that courier Erwin." He sarcastically replied to the blonde man. "I'm not stupid enough to believe that somebody wont try and get their hands on whatever I send, but I doubt they'll be interested in the Survey Corps food budget."

"Probably not." Erwin admitted. "If that's all, you should go talk to Mike and Hange before you leave, they were both worried about you, Hange especially after she saw what happened up close."

"Yeah, yeah." He waved it off as he stood up from Erwin's desk. "I'll go talk to them, and tell them that you inadvertently changed my eye colour."

Erwin watched him leave the room in silence before sitting at his desk. He looked down only to see that the bottom drawer had been forced open. Spotting it He hurriedly opened it to see that it was now empty.

"Damnit Lucas." Erwin muttered to himself, because Grisha Yeager's books were kept locked away in that drawer, alongside the photograph of his previous wife and his other son. "What are you gonna do with them?"

(Wall Sina, the next day)

Holding the bundle of permanent happiness that was Misako in his arms as he tried to put her to sleep for the night, Lucas was also annoyed at how late she seemed to stay up to.

Considering it was half past ten and he wanted to sleep, but he couldn't because Frieda was nowhere to be found and Misako wouldn't stop giggling and drooling all over him.

Frowning slightly as he used his thumb to wipe away the drool from her mouth, only to have more reappear as she made some unintelligible noises as her lips smacked together.

"You're lucky that I don't dry your mouth out with a towel." He grumbled as he wiped the drool away once again. "I'd like to see you drool when your mouth is as dry as a desert."

Misako only giggled in response, reaching her hands out to play with his nose, feeling it as she tried to force the tip of his nose upwards, which he stopped by pulling his head a little further away from her.

"Aren't you getting tired now?" He asked her, even though he knew she couldn't answer. "Didn't you have a nap earlier today? Is that why you're still up? Or is it because you want to see mommy before you sleep?"

The only semblance of a response he got was another giggle.

"Why do I even bother asking?" He sighed. "You were always going to laugh, no matter what I fucking said."

She reached out for his face again, this time managing to get her small fingers on his lips and pressed them closer together, effectively squeezing his mouth shut.

"Okay." He effortlessly pulled his lips out of her grasp. "That's enough violence out of you today." He set her down in her crib in the corner of the room the three of them shared currently. "I will go find mommy, you, go to sleep."

Unfortunately for him though, as soon as he let go of Misako and turned around, he could hear her start to cry. He really wanted to go to sleep after doing paperwork all afternoon and into the night, this wasn't something that he wanted.

"Attention seeking brat." He mumbled as he reached down to pick her up again, which got her to calm down, at least until she started reaching out for his face once again. "Now I definitely know that you didn't get this from me."

She giggled out some more gibberish, which was accompanied by more spit and drool dripping from her mouth until he wiped it away once again.

"Are you going to do this until you tire yourself out?" He asked her as she tugged on his nose. "You're only four months old, you shouldn't be this energetic already."

He allowed her to play with his face until she tired herself out, which didn't take very long considering how young she was. Which allowed him the opportunity to finally set her down in her crib. "Finally." He let out a sigh if relief, looking out the window to see that the rain was pouring down outside. "Now I have to find an idiot so I can finally sleep."

After a quick search of the inside of the house, which included barging into the rooms of the people he didn't like, for example Rod, and knocking on the doors of the people he tolerated, like Florian and Abel, asking them if they knew where Frieda was, but not getting an answer because they didn't know.

After getting dressed fully to look for her outside, considering that was the only place that he hadn't looked yet. He grabbed an umbrella and opened it as he stepped out the side door to the main part of the garden.

The rain lashed down consistently onto the umbrella, and the darkness of the winter night made it hard to see, especially since there was no moonlight to light the path for him.

He followed the gravel path the whole way around the grounds of the estate, looking in places that he knew she liked to look at, pathes of flowers, underneath trees, even looking around every bench scattered around the grounds proved useless.

He was about to give up looking for her and just go to bed, assuming that she was inside and that he hadn't seen her. That was until he walked past one particularly large patch of just plain grass where he heard a soft sob over the sound of the rainfall.

Sighing to himself, he walked across the grass, his boots squelching as the wet mud was moved with every step, alerting whoever it was that was there to hid presence.

Once he got a look at her, he couldn't help but be part concerned and part annoyed at what she was doing. She was sitting on her ass on the muddy grass wearing nothing but her white nightgown which had splotches of dirt all over it.

The soles of her feet were also muddy, with her calves were also completely covered in mud, with her feet pointing towards the heavens as she sat there.

She glanced her head to look at whoever had found her, which was enough for him to see that her eyes were puffy and red, a clear sign that she had been crying.

"You look like shit." Was the first thing he said, which made her let out a cross between a sob and a strangled laugh. "Not to mention you look like you're covered in shit."

"What do you want?" She asked, sounding as depressed as she usually would after 'Karl' took control as Lucas liked to put it. "I don't want to talk right now."

"I want to sleep." He simply replied. "I've spent the last five hours doing papework, then having to put our unnaturally hyperactive child to sleep, but I can't go to sleep because you're out here in the freezing cold rain."

"You can sleep without me you know?" Frieda countered his argument with. "I'm not required to be there for you to sleep."

"Idiot." He told her, bending down to flick her forehead. "Get up." He dragged her to her feet. "You're going to clean yourself once we get inside." He tried to force her with him but her legs gave out.

"I can't feel my legs because of the cold." She told him, not being able to look at him right now. "You'll have to carry me."

"You'll have to hold the umbrella though." He handed it to her, temporarily exposing his head to the rain for a split second until he had her in his arms, easily being able to carry her through the garden and back into the house. He did get dirt on his clothes as a result of this, but that could easily be washed out.

Entering the house silently, Frieda closed and put the umbrella back where it came from, all the while avoiding looking at Lucas as he carried her upstairs to the nearest bathroom to their room.

Turning the handle to the bathroom since he had his hands full, Frieda was gently put down in the bathtub that was in the corner of the room, sitting in a pure silence as Lucas left until he returned a minute later with four large towels in one hand, and a couple of extra sponges in his other hand.

"What are you doing?" She asked as he prepared the sponges by soaking them in the sink, she sounded very tired. "I'm perfectly capable of cleaning myself, you can leave now." She tried to dismiss him, but he wasn't having any of it.

"Considering you were out there long enough for your legs to stop working, forgive me if I doubt that." He replied, turning the valve on the pipe that turned the shower on, spraying her with cold water.

She let out a squeal at the coldness of the water as she tried to squirm away, but was held in place by Lucas, who now had his sleeves rolled up. "This water is freezing! Turn it off!" She demanded.

"No, you need to be washed properly, and a steaming hot shower will only make your condition worse." He retorted, she knew he was right, but she still didn't like it.

"Fine." She stubbornly crossed her arms over her chest. "You won't stop anyway."

"The nightgown has to come off." He told her, moving her arms aside do he could lift it off of her. "I don't think those stains will ever come out." He said, throwing the dirt piece of clothing across the room and into the laundry basket in the corner. "Underwear too." He blankly told her, seeing her cross her arms again.

She huffed in response allowing him to take off her bra from behind while she wriggled out of her panties while the cold water kept on coming down, making her shiver involuntarily.

"Happy now?" She sarcastically asked as she crossed her arms over her chest, and pulling her legs closer together to keep her modesty.

"Stop whining like a little kid." He pulled her further backwards so it was her legs were underneath the water now. He started scrubbing her feet first, it didn't help that they were absolutely filthy, he wasn't a cleam freak like Levi was, but even he had to admit that this was disgusting.

Once he finished with her feet, which included scrubbing her toenails clean of any dirt that got in there, he moved up her legs to her calves, where he had to prop each leg up as he scrubbed the underside of each one with soap and cold water, having to replace the sponge more than once with the amount of dirt she had gotten on herself.

"I know someone who would probably have a heart attack seeing this much dirt on someone." It was his attempt at a joke seeing as she was acting like a brat, not speaking and being a nuisance in general. "I mean look at this." He gestured to the brown water that was going down the hole at the end of the bathtub. "You're lucky it was me that found you. Rod would have had a fit if he found you like this."

"Thanks for the reminder." She grumbled as he finished off cleaning her legs, the feeling starting to come back to her legs, despite how cold the water was, it was definitely warmer than outside.

"No problem princess." He replied as he moved her forward so her hair was now under the water, us she was going to act like a brat, he would too. "I'll try not to ruin your hair while I wash it."

She didn't reply to that, knowing that it would be pointless to continue arguing with him, all she could do was sit in silence and let him finish cleaning her.

He straightened her head so that it was fully upright under the shower water instead of the slight hunch that it previously had. He used his now cold fingers and weaved them through her long, dark hair, combing through it like a brush.

Once he was sure that it was rinsed properly, he added soap to her hair, making sure to rub it all the way through to her scalp to prevent any dandruff from possible appearing. Then moving to the back of her hair, making sure to smooth it out as he washed it with the soap. He also made sure to wash out all the soap once he rinsed it out.

"Can you stand?" He asked as he turned the valve to stop the water flow.

"No." She replied, her request for him to help her not said, but it was still heard by him. He pulled a small stool over for her to sit on once he lifted her put of the bath, proceeding to dry her off with two of the towels that he had brought up.

Once she had been dried off, he wrapped another dry towel around her waist which came down to her ankles, and another around her shoulders which came down to her thighs, overlapping the other one to try and warm her up a little.

Bending down and putting one arm under her knees, and the other under her back, he picked her up and held her close to him. With her leaning her head ever so slightly against his chest, whispering a quiet 'thank you' as her damp hair left a wet spot on his shirt.

The journey down the corridor to their room was silent, the only sounds being the sounds of his feet hitting the wooden floor with every step he took. Once they got there, he opened the door, closed it behind him, and set her down on the bed, which she thanked him by turning her body so she didn't have to look at him.

"So that's how it's gonna be?" He asked out loud. "You're just going to pretend that I'm not here? Is that it?"

She didn't reply, only shifting herself slightly further away from him, which made him a bit more annoyed than he already was.

"Tch, I've heard of women being angry for no reason at all, but you're taking this to a whole new level." He was hoping for a reaction out of her, but it didn't work at all. "Whatever, I'll go sleep somewhere else then."

"Do you hate me?" She asked before he could open the door, making him turn around, only to see that she was crying again, with her arms now outside the towel as she had moved her lower half underneath the blankets.

"I know that I call you an idiot sometimes, and maybe it's not really that justified, but you are an idiot, and this time it is justified." He told her, moving back to the bed and taking a seat. "What's wrong?" He asked, the question was simple but effective.

"I... what I did to you was unforgivable, I gave you my eyes without realising the consequences that would occur." The tears were slowly coming down her cheeks now. "It was something that I shouldn't have done, I would take it back if I could."

"Now you're definitely being an idiot." He replied, using his thumbs to wipe away her tears as he cupped her face. "I would've been a cripple if you hadn't gave me your eyes." He reminded her.

"It would've been better that way." She bitterly replied, which made him confused, she looked extremely happy when it worked. "You'd be better off blind than being an Eldian like me."

"I see, so that's what this is about." He shifted around the bed so that he could sit on it with his legs crossed, now sitting facing her. "Frieda, wasn't the whole point of that first meeting you arranged to see whether I was an Eldian or not?"

"Y-Yes, but I don't see the relevance." She replied, nervous about what he would say.

"So if I was an Eldian, would you have sent me on my way, not even giving me a second thought?"

"That... was a possibility." She didn't want to say it out loud.

"So what you're saying is that I've spent the past four years not getting to know Frieda, but the King who took a vow of pacifism, is that it?"

"No!" She quickly replied. "It was all real, it was all me... I just couldn't be with someone who could have their memories influenced." She explained. "I wouldn't do something like that... but sometimes it's hard to stay in complete control."

"Frieda." He reached over for her hand, hesitating slightly before he grasped it in his own. "You need to stop listening to what he tells you." He warned her. "He'll do anything to protect the Paradise he tried to create, even if that includes getting rid of me."

"I hear him, everyday... talking to me like he's a friend." She revealed. "I try to ignore him, but he's always there, sometimes he's not alone either, there's other holders there too, all arguing about what I need to do."

"Sounds like quite the hassle." He quipped. "I'm sure if you ignore them they'll leave you alone eventually."

"I want it to stop Lucas." She cried out, moving both of her hands to grab his shoulders tightly. "They don't shut up, they're always there, it's like an annoying nuisance that never shuts up."

"I'm not sure how I can help with that." It wasn't what she wanted or needed to hear, but he wasn't going to lie to her. "If you need something, just ask though." He moved his hand up and down her upper arm to reassure her.

"Actually, I need something to distract myself with." She bit her lip nervously, unconsciously rubbing his shoulders with her fingers. "I was wondering if you would help me with it?"

"Not tonight Frieda." He had a good idea about what she could be talking about. "I'm tired, my neck hurts, I want to sleep."

"Lucas I- I wasn't asking if we could have sex." Her cheeks turned a faint red at his suggestion. "I wanted- I was wondering if- I wanted to do some... physical exercise, and I wanted you to help me with it."

"You mean like running? Push ups and sit ups? That kind of exercise?" He asked, he could understand why she asked for it, but it must have been bad inside her head if she asked him to help her.

"Yes." She nodded. "If I'm too tired to think properly, then surely they won't be able to bother me as much."

"You do realise that I won't take it easy on you?" He asked, getting a nod in conformation from her. "Well, I'm supposed to train anyway, so I suppose taking you along wouldn't be so hard."

"Thank you Lucas." She smiled at him, until she shivered again, clearly still cold.

"You're still freezing." He noted as he felt the temperature of her arm. "You'll heat up faster if we sleep closer together." He started undressing himself to the point where he only had his boxers on. "Take the towels off and get in the blankets." He ordered.

With slightly trembling fingers, she took both towels off of her and placed them gently on the floor where someone else would take them away in the morning, and then proceeded to lie back down, covering her entire body with the blanket.

Lucas, seeing that her body wouldn't do enough to warm her up properly, pulled her across to him. He laid down next to her, draping an arm across her stomach, entangling his legs with hers and laying his head on her chest right below her chin.

"This'll help warm you up." He muttered, the heat coming off his body and onto hers now, the rest being trapped by the blanket covering them. "Don't get any ideas."

"Thank you Lucas." She wrapped an arm around his back to pull him even closer to her, with her other resting on the back of his head, gently stroking and playing with his hair as she closed her eyes and whispered to him. "I love you."

"Yeah, me too." He seemed to snuggle even closer to her. "Good night Frieda." He mumbled out as he closed his eyes, feeling content as she played with his hair, lulling him into a deep sleep.

(Morning)

When Frieda woke up in the morning, the sun was coming through the window as the curtains were already open. The most important thing to her though, was that the warm body that helped warm her up last night was no longer there with her.

Flipping herself over so that she was now laying on her stomach, she cocooed herself in the blankets and buried her face into the pillows, wanting to make the most of her time in bed before she was inevitably dragged out by Lucas.

She stretched her warm and tired body as much as she could, giving out a soft groan in delight as she felt her bones crack and pop. "Mmm." She groaned as she felt the bones in the middle of her back crack, the only thing missing was her favourite soldier, pressing his fingers into her shoulders, working at the knots that were obviously there.

She let out a soft hum as she imagined Lucas' strong fingers working her shoulders, moving them down her back, imagining him pressing down firmly yet gently, taking great care to not hurt her.

Her right hand moved from above her head downwards, down past her chest, her fingers grazing her stomach as they moved even further downwards, teasing herself slowly to the thought of Lucas giving her a slow massage, her breath getting heavier and heavier with every movement of her hand.

Grinding softly against her hand as her fingers moved around inside of her, the thought of Lucas kissing her neck, her shoulders, her back. The thought of him taking his clothes off made her bite her lip to hold back a moan erupting from her throat.

Her breathing became even more ragged now, moving three fingers inside of her now, the thought if her husband pressing her down on the bed and having his way with her. Thinking about him thrusting in and out of her made her feel hot and heavy, her hand moving faster and faster as she imagined he would.

God she was so glad that whenever Lucas was home he took Misako out the room when he woke up, otherwise she would have an extremely hard time explaining this to anyone that happened to walk in.

As the minutes and seconds went by, she felt herself getting closer and closer yo orgasm, breathing now shallow and ragged, grinding and bucking her hips against her palm as her fingers moved in and out, bringing herself closer and closer. Her breath hitched, muscles tightened, toes curled and she gripped the bedsheets with her other hand as she came, a wave of pleasure emanating from her core, which allowed her to swear into the pillow as the sweat dripped off her body.

The door to the room opened and she froze in place, she didn't dare look, especially when she coud hear someone sniffing the air of the room.

"Really?" A male voice asked, thankfully she recognised it as Lucas and not someone else. "I was in here ten minutes ago and you were sleeping, I come back to find you masturbating." He didn't sound angry, just a slight but annoyed. "Filthy minded pervert." She heard him mutter.

She heard something heavy hit the floor, which made her turn around to see two backpacks filled up, and they looked heavy.

"Did you know that your family has a huge library?" He asked as he made his way iver to the wardrobe for Frieda's clothes and started rummaging away. "There's some pretty heavy books there, I'll give you that." He pulled out a pair of underwear and a bra and threw it to her.

"How heavy are those bags Lucas?" She asked, slightly worried because she could tell that one of them was for her. "It looks like you stuffed a person in there."

"Mine is about sixty kilos." He closed her wardrobe and went to his and fished out pants and a shirt for her to wear. "You're starting off light at thirty five kilos." He told her. "Now get dressed, we start in five minutes."

"Can I at least shower first?" She requested. "I would feel a lot better without all this sweat sticking to my skin."

"No, you'll be sweating like a pig anyway." He denied her the chance to shower. "You can shower once you finish your morning run."

"Oh god." She groaned after hearing the word 'morning', maybe she would regret asking for his help. "Can I at least wash my hands first?" It was a simple request, surely he would let her do it.

Instead of replying, Lucas walked over to her, grabbed her right hand, with her fingers still wet and coated in her juices, he took the three wet fingers into his mouth and pulled the hand away and wiped it on the bedsheets.

"There, hand washed, now get dressed." He picked up both bags effortlessly. "I didn't wake up at dawn and calm Misako down when she woke up just for you to laze about all day." With that he left the room and closed the door behind him, giving her the privacy to get changed.

She sighed and threw her head back onto the pillows, allowing herself anither second of rest before she forced herself up to get dressed. She asked for him to help with her physical training, so she wouldn't back out.

Once she was dressed, she placed her hand on the doorknob and was about to twist until she got an excruciating headache, forcing her to lean against the wall and hold her throbbing head.

" _ **You cannot allow yourself to keep believing this lie you tell yourself.** " _One voice boomed from inside her head.

" _I concur with him." Another voice agreed. "The Ackerman family are meant to serve the Royal Family, not marry into it."_

 **" _Surely you must see that he is a threat to you and your family_.**" A third voice interjected, but she knew this one, it was Karl Fritz. " ** _My dear grandchild, you saw what they were up to in the forest of giant trees, he plots to kill you and steal your power._**

"He will not." Frieda gritted her teeth as the pain subsided. "He would never do that to me, he loves me and I love him."

 ** _Do not fool yourself dear grandchild_** **." Karl tried to appeal to her. " _He only cares about the power you inherited, nothing more."_**

"Get the fuck out of my head!" She demanded, concentrating as much as she could to block out the sounds until they stopped completely.

"He does love me, I know he does." She muttered to herself. "He doesn't need to tell me, he's just shy about it." She muttered once again, gripping the door handle once again. "He shows his love for me, that's all I need." She opened the door, and spotted Lucas at the end of the corridor, quickly jogging up to him so that she could start with her training.

 **A/N- Thank you for reading another chapter! Don't worry if it feels a bit slow, things will start to speed up in terms of time and actual events over thd bext few chapters. If you have any questions, please leave a review. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it!**


	16. Wasteland Navigation Exercise

**A/N- supboyyyyy93- The change in his attitude was partly because of him awakening his Ackerman powers, but the other part is because he doesn't see the world the same any more, now seeing it as cruel and brutal, like how Mikasa went from being a happy child to a very quiet and possessive one.**

 **As for him being a copy of Levi, I'm trying not to write him as a 'perfect' character like Levi seems to be by winning every single battle he has without consequence, except for when he injured his ankle. Hey will share some similarities, but that will only be due to their powers and heritage as Ackermans.**

(Year, 848)

The cadets were about a year into their training now, having been subjected to a harsh training regime by Instructor Shadis the cadets that showed the most promise were beginning to show.

While the Cadets had begun using the ODM gear about six months or so ago, meaning that the ones who had a talent for the gear were miles ahead of the ones who hadn't been able to grasp it as quickly, luckily for them though, there were still two years left of training, meaning they still had plenty of time to catch up.

There were some distinct front runners for the top ten so far though, only a few though, the rest of the top ten would probably start pulling away from the rest of the average trainees near the end of the three years.

The cadet that stood out the most was Mikasa Ackerman, Lucas' little sister. She was described as a 'prodigy' by Shadis, top of the class in every aspect apart from the classwork.

Then there was Eren, that idiot that couldn't let go of his hatred for the Titans, determined to get revenge on them for invading his hometown and nearly killing his mother. His physical and ODM performance had been lacklustre, with his performance in the classroom being even worse so far, maybe if he wasn't so focused on his hatred he might be able to get better.

Armin Arlert had been the best in the classroom so far, according to Shadis he was top of the class in the strategy and ODM theory tests, but he had the physique of a ten year old girl, so he largely struggled with physical exercises.

Some other notable cadets were Jean Kirstein, who was a natural at the ODM gear, only being topped by Mikasa, although he seemed very content to just ignore Lucas, probably because he didn't want anyone to know that he had been bullied when he was younger.

Reiner Braun was another noteworthy cadet, he was one of the oldest cadets, making it so that others usually came to him for guidance with things, he was also very good in the physical aspect, and a half decent leader. He was the perfect cadet, too perfect though, which Lucas hated.

Perfection didn't exist, it was impossible, so to have something or someone who was this good at something made him suspicious, very suspicious.

Then there was Annie Leonhart, according to Frieda she was the Female Titan, one of the powers which Markey gained possession of during the Great Titan War, which didn't make it any easier for him considering he had to hide the fact he knew, otherwise he would potentially expose the fact that the Reiss family is the true Royal Family.

Annie was a loner, basically everyone knew that, she seemed to avoid human contact as much as physically possible considering she was surrounded by people 24/7. Either she was trying to make it easier to kill people who obviously weren't the devils she was brought up to believe, or she was trying to make it easier for anyone to cast her away as an enemy when her secret was eventually revealed.

Aside from that though, she wasn't the worst spy in the world, she kept her distance from others, stayed quiet most of the time and kept to herself. If it wasn't for her spying on him in Trost, he wouldn't be any closer to finding out her identity, or the Armoured and Colossal Titans identities.

It was the only mistake that she had made, and that was putting down on her sign up form where she was from, and that village was on the same form as two other recruits, Reiner Braun and Bertholdt Hoover.

(Summer, 848)

Now that a year had passed on the training of the 104th, it was time for the Wasteland Navigation Exercise that cadets were put through after their first year.

The objective of this exercise was to determine how well the cadets could sustain themselves without a crisis, while having to navigate their way through about 40km of desert on horseback within the given time limit, testing their teamwork, navigation skills, and the leadership of the two team leaders.

Team A had Marco as it's leader, Armin as the record-keeper, while the rest of the team consisted of Eren, Jean, Connie, Sasha, Krista and Mina.

Team B had Thomas as their leader and Mikasa as the record-keeper, the rest consisted of Reiner, Bertholdt, Annie, Samuel, Daz, Franz and Hannah.

The only respite the cadets had currently was that they were traveling of horseback instead of walking, because the heat of the sun in the wasteland was merciless, beating down on them, making them sweat and making them as uncomfortable as possible.

"So, we're not supposed to rush this?" Marco asked Armin as the group rode slowly on their horses.

"R-Right." Armin responded.

"It'd be stupid if we did." Jean pointed out, more relaxed than the others on his team. "For once we can take our time and relax."

"Of course you would say that." Eren sneered at him. "If you're gonna fall behind, I'm gonna move ahead."

"Eren, wait." Armin protested as Eren moved forward, speeding up on his horse.

"Eren, we need to stay in formation." Marco told him, holding his hand out to stop him from passing. "Jean, what should we do?" Marco asked his friend.

"Like I care." Jean replied, annoyed about Eren. "Besides, you're the leader Marco, you make the call."

Marco wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Let's just get on with the exercise."

"Will you hurry up?" Eren demanded of Jean. "Don't you have the endurance for this?"

"Do you ever shut up?" Jean shot back, irritated that Eren was taking digs at him, trying to get on his nerves.

"It would be great if time passed faster if that was the case." Connie groaned, clearly bored out of his mind.

"You've got that right." Sasha agreed with him. "We've got a long road ahead of us."

Then surprisingly enough, Eren and Jean stopped bickering with each other, allowing the rest of their teammates to enjoy the quiet that wasn't usually there when they were both around.

That lasted about fifteen seconds before Jean noticed a lizard running parallel to the path they were taking. "Check it out, seems like the lizard is heading our way." He pointed out for them.

"It's rare to see lizards out here." Marco added in.

"They're delicious, you know?" Some of them looked at her strangely, so she elaborated. "Seriously, they are. My family and I used to eat them. They taste like chicken."

"You can cook?" Jean asked.

"'Can I cook?' he says." She replied with a huge grin on her face. "Easily."

"Well, in that case..." Jean trailed off, then suddenly his horse spurred forward into a gallop, passing the rest of them easily and chasing after the lizard.

"Hey, wait!" Marco protested.

"If hunting for food is part of the exercise, then why not get that lizard?" Jean exclaimed excitedly.

"Don't do that!" Krista also protested his actions.

"I'm going ahead." Eren announced, taking off after Jean.

The lizard kept on running away from Jean, who managed to catch it easily with the speed of his horse, grinning as he brought out a sword to stab it with. "Gotcha!" He exclaimed, swinging it downwards, only for the sound of metal hitting metal to come out, because Eren had blocked it with his own sword, causing the lizard to run off. "What are you doing?" Jean demanded as Eren moved back.

"This isn't a game." Eren reminded him.

"There isn't even an Instructor here!" Jean exclaimed. "This training won't get us anywhere."

Marco had enough and dismounted his horse once he caught up. "Stop it! You're acting like a bunch of children."

"I don't want to hear this from you." Jean responded.

"If there's a delay it will have to be recorded!" Marco reminded him loudly, then turning to face Armin. "Don't record this yet Armin."

"G-Got it." Armin stuttered, a little confused on what he should write down now because of the problem caused by Eren and Jean.

"Write down, 'Jean Kirstein tries to find food during the exercise, but an annoying shit stops him.'" Jean suggested.

"What did you say?" Eren growled at him.

"You let him get away!" Sasha yelled out, causing all the eyes to go to her, as she was glaring at Eren and Jean, it seemed like she really wanted to eat the lizard.

Marco sighed in annoyance. "Let's go." He said, just wanting to finish the exercise by this point.

"Fine." Jean conceded, following the path with the rest of the group.

Sasha however, still looked quite sad about the potential meal getting away. "Given it's size, it could have fed all of us."

(Team B)

While team A was having their own problems with their resident loudmouths, Team B had a different type of problem, one that they had discovered in the evening.

The problem they had was had their ODM gear had been stolen through the night, which was a major problem because criminals would pay a lot of money to get their hands on a set, especially since only soldiers were authorised to be in possession of one.

Once Team B had gotten wind of the situation they were in, Thomas decided to send Daz and Hannah to the halfway point they were supposed to reach later tonight.

At the halfway point there was only one Instructor, a very annoyed and disgruntled Captain of the Survey Corps, pissed off that Shadis decided to make him wait for the two teams to arrive before he could go back to the training grounds.

So when Daz and Hannah arrived on their own, claiming that their teams ODM gear had been stolen, it wasn't looking like it would be the greatest day for him, especially considering he was only wearing the harness and not the actual ODM gear, which he had left back at the training camp.

"Are you sure this is where you left the gear?" Lucas asked, because he would definitely be pissed beyond belief if they had dragged him back here for nothing.

"There's no doubt about it Captain." Daz responded. "This was where we put it. Everything we kept safe was here."

"Who was on watch?" Lucas then asked. "Surely someone must have seen who took the gear."

"We didn't have a lookout Sir." Thomas responded. "I didn't think that we would need one since we're supposed to be the only ones out here."

"I'm not even going to question the logic behind that." Lucas sighed, he expected better, especially since Mikasa was apart of this team. "Did you find anything else in the time it took us to get here?"

"Over here." Annie's voice caught his attention, bringing him over to an old campfire.

"It looks like they've been gone quite a while." Reiner added in. "It was cold to the touch when I checked earlier."

"Look over here too." Annie said, pointing to carriage tracks in the dirt.

"There's a few of them." Reiner added in once again.

"Not a few, there's only two." Lucas corrected him. "Four wheel tracks, the hoof prints are mainly in between the tracks."

"There isn't any information about residents inhabiting this area." Annie spoke up.

"It was obviously a gang of thieves if you hadn't caught on yet." Someone let out a gasp at that. "I don't see why you're so surprised, some people would pay a lot of money to get their hands on a functioning piece of ODM gear."

"So, someone was targeting us then." Thomas summed it up.

"We're lucky that we didn't catch them." Mikasa spoke up. "We would have been helpless against them, we're lucky to be alive."

"You would be hard pressed to find someone who would murder a bunch of thirteen year old children for money." Lucas countered. "They would have tied you up until they got away, maybe they would've knocked you out if you tried to fight, but I doubt they would gave killed you."

"That's mildly reassuring." Reiner muttered to himself. "So what do we do now?" He asked after a second.

"You lot aren't going to do anything." Lucas told them. "You will go back to the training camp while I go and look for Team A."

"But Sir." Reiner protested. "Surely it would be faster and safer if we all went to look for Team A."

"Unless you want to run laps until you collapse when you get back for disobeying a direct order Braun, I suggest you go straight back to the training grounds."ivas glared at him, receiving no reply he turned back around and mounted his horse. "Wagner, take your team through the Valley back to camp, that's the fastest route back."

After that, he sped off on his horse, following the trail of the carriages, hopefully they would lead him to Team A, or maybe just where the criminals had set up camp next.

(Team A)

The sun had set and darkness had fallen upon the earth, Team A had set up camp for the night, with their horses tied to the trees and a pot set up by a fire to cook their rations.

"So this is what field rations taste like." Jean muttered, considering not eating it at all, it looked like slop and tasted even worse, but it was better than starving.

"It would've been better if we had caught that lizard." Sasha spoke up with her mouth full.

"Enough, I've heard too much about lizards for today." Jean grumbled.

"Weren't you hunting one earlier today?" Eren asked, sitting with his back to Jean.

"Funny, I was pretending I was hunting down a Titan if it makes you feel better." Jean retorted, knowing that Eren would take the bait.

"What do you mean by that?" Eren stood up and turned to face him. "You don't give a damn about the Scouts, why did you even join the Cadet Corps?"

"Because unlike you, I'm not suicidal." Jean spat back at him, now standing up to face Eren. "I actually want to live to see another day."

"There won't be another day if we don't defeat the Titans!" Eren yelled at him. "Why can't you see that?!"

While the two were arguing once again, Armin had the clipboard out, nervously thinking about what he should write down in this situation.

"It's fine Armin." Marco cut in hastily before anything could be written down. "It's just a chat during mealtime."

Jean chuckled at how easily it was to get Eren riled up and smirked. "You think training will pay off once a real Titan shows up?"

"That's enough from you!" Eren yelled, lunging forward to grab Jean's collar, resulting in the two struggling against each other.

"Stop it!" Krista yelled at the two, trying to get them to calm down, but it was useless, the only thing that would stop them fighting was if an actual Titan showed up.

While the two teens continued to fight and yell at each other, Krista thought she saw something move in the shadows, turning her head to look into the forest, but not being able to see anything because of the darkness.

"Hey guys..." Krista tried to get their attention, only to be drowned out by the loud noises of Eren and Jean continuing to yell at each other loudly, very loudly, both expressing their opinions on the Scouts and Titans in a very colourful manner.

"Hey you two, enough already!" Marco stepped in between the two of them, breaking up the fight before one of them seriously hurt the other.

Once Marco had successfully managed to defuse the situation, the whole team was in agreement that they should go to sleep, but Krista was slightly nervous about falling asleep, especially after she thought she saw something moving in the trees, at best it was a deer or a lizard, but it could easily be something much worse.

While everyone else had laid down and were trying to sleep, Krista was still awake and sitting on a fallen tree trunk that they set their camp up near.

She remembered one time when she was living in rural Wall Rose with her mother Alma, when Lucas had came to visit to check up on how she and Alma were doing living away and in hiding from the people that wanted them dead.

He told her the story of how he got the scars on his chest, that it was a bear that had gotten a taste of human blood and went actively hunting for other humans to eat. If she remembered correctly, it wasn't that far away from where he told her it happened, so her nerves weren't helped at all by that.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when her horse suddenly came up from behind her, obviously he hadn't been tied up properly.

"You scared me there boy." Krista patted the head of her horse as he nuzzled her, wanting more of her affection.

She then heard a branch snap from behind her, both she and the horses head snapping round to the forest where the sound originated from, watching closely to see if anything was going to emerge.

The entire camp was woken up by a scream coming from Krista, with Eren's eyes shooting open to a gun that was pointed directly at his face by a masked assailant.

"Don't move a muscle." The man warned Eren, who turned his head to see that everyone else was being held at gunpoint. "Gather their ODM gear, hurry!" The man ordered.

"What are you gonna do with them?" Eren demanded, not afraid or intimidated by the man or the gun in his face.

"There are certain people who will pay handsomely for these on the black market." The thief responded, not worried about telling him what they would do with them. "You can't beat the Titans anyway, so what's the harm in taking useless equipment?"

That was the breaking point for Eren, so h grit his teeth and grabbed the rifle in his face, forcing it upwards as he stood up and beginning a struggle with the man. "Everyone, now!" Eren yelled, trying to get them to fight back.

"Eren, don't!" Armin warned, feeling the barrel of a gun press up against the back of his head.

Overrun by panic, Jean attempted to make a run for it. Once they saw this, one of the men fired a warning shot at him, grazing his cheek and making him stop dead in his tracks. Eren was distracted by the gunshot, allowing the thief to hit him across the face with the butt of his rifle, forcing him back to the ground.

"Don't be an idiot next time." The man warned Eren, pointing "Unless you want a bullet in your skull, I suggest you don't move again."

Once the men gathered up the equipment and loaded them onto the two carriages, with one carrying a tied up Krista over his shoulder and loaded her onto the carriage.

"Today us your lucky day, we have decided not to kill you." One of the bandits announced to them. "But if you do come after us, we'll kill the girl first, then you all, understand?" They then got onto the carriages and left the trainees on their own in the forest.

"Everyone..." Eren began, looking around at them all. "We could have taken them! Why didn't you all fight back?!"

"That's your opinion, I don't agree." Jean spoke up, voicing his own opinion on the matter. "Actually, because of your psychotic behaviour, you put us all in danger."

"This exercise is over." Marco's head slumped down, now looking at the floor.

"Are we just abandoning Krista?" Eren asked.

"That's not it." Marco denied. "But it's just us, maybe if we rush back to Shadis, or maybe Captain Ackerman, they could help us." He suggested.

"What if we don't make it in time?" Eren glared at Marco. "I won't accept this! I'm going to save Krista!" He announced. "I'll do it alone if I have to!"

"Wait!" Jean stopped him from leaving just yet. "All of our horses are gone." He grabbed onto his shoulder. "How are you going to find her?"

"It's none of your damn business!" Eren yelled, shoving Jean's arm off of him.

"It is! I'm going with you!" He declared, surprising Eren with his determination. "I'm not gonna let them get away without a little payback."

"You guys..." Eren trailed off, not expecting them all to go along with him, especially Jean. Then they all heard the sound of a horse galloping towards them. "Someone's coming!"

The sound of a horse galloping got closer and closer, followed by the voice of someone they all recognised. "Why the fuck are you two shouting so loud?!" The horse came out from around the corner to show Lucas riding it. "I could hear you from a mile away."

He came to a stop on his horse and wuickly dismounted, doing a quick head count he noticed Historia was missing. "Where's Cadet Lenz?"

"She was taken!" Eren quickly brought him up to speed. "Some criminals snuck up on us while we were sleeping and stole our gear, they took her with them as well."

"Shit." He muttered once he heard that, if he didn't het her back and Frieda found out, while he didn't think that she would kill him, there was still a large chance of her crippling him and forcing him to stay within an arms reach of her if anything happened to Historia.

"Which direction did they go in?" Lucas asked no one in particular, he just wanted an answer. "How many were there? And where did your horses go?"

"They went off in that direction." Eren pointed to where the went. "There were five I think, but they set out horses free and they ran off, so we won't be able to catch up to them."

"Who said anything about we?" Lucas asked him. "As far as you're concerned the exercise is over. You're to return to the training camp, I'll go get Krista and bring her back."

"They all had guns though." Eren protested against the decision. "You don't even have your ODM gear with you." He pointed out.

"Eren's right Sir." Jean added in. "How can you expect to fight five men with guns when you don't have anything yourself?"

As much as he didn't want to admit it, they were both right. The only thing he had that resembled a weapon was the pocket knife he kept on him at all times, and while he may be the equivalent of a 'super soldier', but he wasn't bulletproof, or a god, so one mistake would be very costly, especially with five armed men shooting at him.

"Alright then." He conceded that he would need their help with this. "I have to warn you though, you could get shot, or you could end up dead if this goes wrong." He warned them, with no one looking concerned. "Do anyone of you not want to risk your lives for Krista?" None of them said anything. "Stupid kids." He muttered. "We'll need a plan then."

"I've got it!" Sasha snapped her fingers. "Let's get to a high point. 'When you get lost in the mountains, climb to the top. When you get lost in a forest, climb a tall tree.' That's what my father taught me."

"That's actually a semi-intelligent idea Blouse." Lucas commented, with Sasha not sure whether to take that as a compliment or not. "If we move through the forest we can cut them off before they get out." He started moving forwards, with the trainees following close behind. "Armin, Mina, you two keep your eyes up, see if you can see any smoke. If they're close, they'll have a camp set up nearby, hopefully we can find it soon."

They then set to work, quickly packing up the supplies they would need while Lucas impatiently waited for them to hurry up. Onve they were ready, they began hiking through the forest and up the hill, trying to find a high enough spot that would hopefully lead them to the bandits.

It was hard work for the cadets to climb up the incline, it wasn't so much for their superior though, he found it not to be challenging in the slightest.

"Captain, I can see some smoke." Mina called out, pointing to where the smoke was rising into the sky.

"Good eye Carolina." He complimented her. "They've stopped right now." He told them. "Everyone down the hill." He ordered them.

Wasting no time, the cadets all slid down the hill, with Sasha treating it like a fun slide as she went down, making Lucas sigh and hold back a face palm at her behaviour as he followed them down, slightly annoyed at the dirt stains on his white pants once he came to a stop, but he could deal with that later.

Once they reached the bottom, they moved forwards towards the campsite, wisely using a vantage point to scope out the camp before deciding on their next move.

"I count five of them." Lucas told the cadets, as he looked through a pair of binoculars that Armin had in his bag. "They're all armed, but they have extra rifles with them, I would assume they're all loaded as well and not just for show. They put the ODM gear in one carriage, and they have Cadet Lenz handcuffed in another."

"What do we do now Sir?" Eren asked once he put the binoculars down.

"We'll be too late at this rate Sir." Jean added in.

"We can't go down there, we'll get shot." Marco pointed out.

"I have an idea Sir." Armin spoke up, to which Lucas indicated for him to speak. "Since they're going to sell the stolen gear, they'll probably take the wide exit here." Armin pointed towards the crossroads where the path diverged on the map he had laid out, which everyone was now gathered around. "We need to ambush them before they reach here."

"The fastest way there would be to cut straight through the forest." Lucas spoke up. "We would all havs to run, meaning we'll have to ditch the bags, is there anything that we need?"

"How will we make sure that the bandits don't use the wide exit?" Marco asked.

"Do we have any rope?" Mina asked. Eren replied with a 'yes' and pulled some out if his bag and handed it to her. "If we can tie this to a tree, we can have it collapse onto the road, preventing them from taking the wide exit."

"You're betting a lot on there being a tree small enough for you to pull down, but large enough to block the road being there." Lucas pointed out the flaw in that plan.

"Me and Sasha can help her." Connie interrupted. "We'll pull it down, you can count on us Sir!"

"That's right!" Sasha joined in the conversation, backing up Connie. "Leave it to us Captain! We'll get it done no problem!"

Leaving what was probably the most important part of the plan in the hands of someone who couldn't salute properly and someone who would inevitably ask for more rations as a reward for helping wasn't something he was sure of doing. He didn't know an awful lot about Mina either, but if she came up with that plan she had to have more intelligence than those two combined.

"Alright, fine." He conceded, deciding to trust them with this. "But if either of you two fuck this up and they get away with Lenz, I'll make sure Shadis has you eating your food rations out of the toilet for the next two years, is that clear?"

"Y-Yes Sir!" Both Sasha and Connie shivered at that thought, Shadis hated them anyway, but that was awful to even think about.

"Now that's out of the way, what if things go according to plan?" Jean asked out loud, not the only one wandering how they wpuld proceed.

"We should attack from the trees." Eren suggested. "It's the only way to take them by surprise."

"It's possible, but there's a high risk you'll end up with broken legs or worse if you miss the jump." Lucas pointed out. "I assume that you two want to jump down." He looked at Eren and Jean, who both nodded.

"Armin and I can signal you." Marco jumped into the discussion. "We still have those empty cans from dinner."

"Wait, if the three of us are gonna attack the carriages, won't of us have to go alone?" Jean questioned.

"No, the three of us will go for the same carriage." Lucas told him. "Less risk of being shot or injured that way." He explained. "If we drop into the carriage with Cadet Lenz, we take her and let them go, otherwise we put on the gear and go after her." It was a simple plan. "Do not fuck this up." He told them, going completely serious now. "Let's go."

After a short while of running through the forest, they were set up. Lucas was up in a tree with Jean and Eren next to him, Marco and Armin were down below waiting for the carriage to pass so they could signal them, while Mina, Connie and Sasha were busy trying to cause a tree to fall over the wie exit, forcing the bandits to use the smaller road.

After another short wait, Lucas could finally hear the sounds of horses and the turning of wooden wheels in the distance.

"I'll be damned, potato girl and cue ball managed to do it." He muttered, then turned to Eren and Jean. "Get ready, jump when Marco signals."

They waited, and waited. The carriages got closer and closer with each passing second, the sounds of galloping horses and turning wheels getting louder and louder. Until they were right below them, which was exactly when Marco signaled them, the tins clanging against each other.

The three of them dropped as soon as the sound cued, with the cloth roof of the second carriage being torn open as they landed, the three bandits staring at them with stupid expressions on their faces.

There was no Historia in the carriage though, only the ODM gear.

The two that weren't driving tried to rush the three, with Jean stepping forward to hit him in the stomach with his shoulder, causing him to double over. When he did, Lucas took over and threw him out the carriage with relative ease.

However, the screams of the man alerted the bandits in the first carriage. "What's going on?!" One of them yelled back.

"You bastards!" The other man that wasn't the driver in their carriage cursed, with Eren throwing him to the floor rather easily, which allowed Jean to move past him and get the driver in a headlock.

Bending down to grab the floored man by the front of his shirt, Lucas wasted no time in throwing him out the carriage either, then starting to get the ODM gear on, not bothering with the blade boxes though, just the gas canisters and the grappling hooks.

"Those bastards!" The man in the first carriage growled, taking aim with his rifle. Right before he fired, the carriage went over a rock as he fired, missing his targets and hitting the front of the second carriage, with the second carriage hitting a rock that made the front wheel wobble.

Grabbing another rifle, the man took aim again, only to have it forced downwards by Krista, who was now free from where they hung her hands up by, struggling to hold it down as he fired it, hitting the wheel of the second carriage and sending it crashing into a tree.

The bandit, enraged by Krista's intervention, threw her to the ground, grabbed another rifle and aimed it at her head.

"Don't kill her!" The driver yelled back to him. "She's our bounty now!"

"Fine." He relented, pulling the rifle away from her face. "Move again and I will shoot you." He warned her. "Thanks to your friends we've lost our score, you will have to fill the payment void now."

Krista stared back defiantly at him, until the rifle was knocked out of his hand by a hook from someone's ODM gear.

Both Krista and the bandit looked back to see the hook retract into the ODM gear of a familiar black haired Scout, who was flanked by Eren and Jean, who both hab their blades equipped, while Lucas didn't.

The driver of the carriage snapped the reins, urging the horse to move faster, while the other bandit grabbed another rifle, attempting to shoot down the three pursuers.

The first shot missed, with Eren and Jean dodging to the side, while Lucas went above the shot. The man quickly grabbed another rifle, but by the time he was able to point it forward, it was forced upwards by Lucas, who had now landed in the back of the carriage.

The rifle went off, ripping a hole in the roof where the bullet went through. Now defenceless against Lucas, the man tried to kick him, with Lucas stopping it with the bottom of his foot and shoved the man backwards, causing him to stumble into the driver.

"You should've just taken the gear." Lucas told the two, pulling out the pocket knife and holding it in front of him. "If you had, then I wouldn't be here, about to cripple you for kidnapping a thirteen year old girl."

"Fuck you!" The man yelled, picking up an empty rifle and charging at him, trying his hardest to hit him with any part, but every attack was either blocked or deflected, with cuts starting to appear on him every time Lucas slashed at him, the point of the knife beginning to turn redder and redder.

As Lucas was easily beating the bandit, Jean and Eren decided to cut the horse free from the carriage, letting it run off while the carriage continued on at a dangerous speed.

Looking back at the one sided fight, the driver quickly pulled on the brake, making them all jerk forward as the carriage turned onto it's side and tumbled across the ground and over a short drop down below, with Lucas barely managing to get a hold of Historia to protect her from the impact, with him taking the brunt of the impact once the carriage hit a tree.

"You alright?" He asked the blonde girl wrapped up protectively in his arms. "You haven't broken anything have you?"

"No, I'm fine." She replied. "Thank you for coming for me." She thanked him. "All of you risked your lives for me, thank you."

"Hey! You!" The bandit from before stumbled into their view, holding a rifle in his hands, obviously struggling to stand properly, and the pain of the cuts was clearly getting to him as well. "Get out of the fucking cart!"

The man backed up, still pointing the rifle at them, allowing both Lucas and Historia to walk out of the ruined carriage. Lucas was in front of Historia, keeping her safe behind him while he had his hands up, knowing better than to chance that it was a loaded rifle.

"Give us the girl and I might not shoot you!" The man demanded harshly. "You've caused us far too much trouble, damn Scout!"

Historia tried to move forward, but Lucas stuck his arm out to prevent her from moving past him. "If you want her you have to go through me." He replied, giving the man a dead glare.

Up the hill, the rest of the cadets had gathered up, now watching what was happening below them.

"Drop your weapons and hand over the ODM gear!" The other man there demanded, only holding a long knife in his hand. "Nobody has to die this way."

"Don't listen to him!" Lucas yelled back ay the cadets after they started to remove their gear. "He can only shoot once." He shouted. "If he does shoot, you have to stop them."

"Shut the fuck up!" The man with the gun yelled. "Drop your weapons or I will shoot him!"

"Do it." Lucas dared him. "Pull the trigger and see where that gets you, because if you shoot me, there'll be a lot of angry cadets with swords to your wooden stick."

"Don't fuck with me!" He yelled back, pulling the firing mechanism back into position, making Lucas take a step back, pushing Historia further behind him. "Stop moving before I-"

He didn't get to finish his sentence before two people came out of the sky, using their ODM gear to knock the rifle and knife out of their hands, with the two being Mikasa and Annie.

"Don't kill them." Lucas let out a sigh of relief at their appearance, making them lower their blades from the necks of the two. "You." He strode up to the man Annie disarmed, the one who had the knife. "Do I know you?"

The man stiffened when Lucas stopped in front of him, recognising the emblem on his pocket and the back of his jacket. "It's not me that you would know, Captain Ackerman."

(The next day)

In the morning the Military Police arrived to take all five of the men into custody for kidnapping and armed robbery.

But even given the extreme circumstances, the cadets were still required to submit the records that were kept during the exercise.

Mikasa was the first to hand in her record, with Shadis asking her questions about what happened during the exercise. When she finished and left the building, she saw her older brother waiting outside for her, signalling for her to walk with him.

The walk was silent, no one wanted to speak and break it. That was until they rounded a corner, out of sight of the majority of camp behing a building, where Mikasa punched him in the shoulder, hard.

"Ow." He groaned not so loudly, rubbing the part of his arm that she hit tenderly. "What was that for?" He asked.

"That was for trying to get yourself shot last night." She glared at him for a moment, before doing a one eighty in mood and hugging him. "That's for not getting shot."

Taking advantage of the fact that they were alone and no one could see them right now, he wrapped one arm around her and used the other to gently pat the top of her head.

"This is nice." He commented, feeling Mikasa sigh and lean into him more. "You're still that same little girl from 3 years ago under all that, huh?"

"I just want things to go back to the way they used to be." She admitted softly. "You, me, mom... dad."

Once she said that, he pulled back slightly and slapped her, not hard enough to leave a mark, but hard enough to knock some sense into her. "Don't you start thinking like that." He scolded her harshly. "That won't happen and you know it, you chose to follow Eren into the Military, despite both me and mom saying that you shouldn't do it, so don't start thinking about how things could have been."

"Have you never thought about it?" She asked him, ignoring the momentary pain in her cheek. "Have you thought about how things would be if none of this ever happened?"

"Of course I have, but I try not to focus on that." He pulled her against him again, wrapping both of his arms around her now. "I'd love nothing more than for you, me and mom to be safe, in a house in the country where there are no problems at all, but that isn't going to happen, not now, not ever."

"I see..." She trailed off, pulling back from the hug. "Thank you for the comfort, but I should get back to the bunkhouse."

"Mikasa wait." He stopped her by grabbing onto her hand, holding it in his. "If you ever need something, or someone to talk to, don't be afraid to ask." He softly told her. "Just say the words and I'll come running, okay?"

She gave him a small smile and squeezed his hand in reassurance. "I will, thank you Lucas." She let his hand go and continued on walking away until she was around the corner and out of sight.

"That was sweet of you." A female voice came from behind him. "I always knew you were secretly a big softie."

"Cadet Lenz." He turned around to face her. "Is there something that I can help you with? Or are you only here to comment on my relationship with my little sister?"

"There isn't anyone around who could overhear us." She replied, before adding in. "I checked."

"What do you really want?" He asked. "I already told you that you don't have to thank me for saving you, so it better not be that."

"No, it's not that." She shook her head. "I wanted to know... I know we're not related like you and Mikasa are, but you're like a brother to me, what I'm trying to ask is if you would come running if I ever needed you?"

"No." He bluntly replied, making her face drop. "It would be more like a slow jog." He used his hand to ruffle her hair like he did when she was younger.

"You would?" She asked, getting a nod from him in confirmation. "Thank you." She smiled brightly at him, then remembering something once she looked at his left hand.

"Will I ever get to meet your wife?" She asked him. "You haven't even told me her name yet, and I would like to meet the woman who managed to wriggle her way into your heart." It was her way of teasing him, that he had a heart of stone, they both knew he didn't, but he sometimes acted like he did.

"Her name is Frieda." He told her suddenly. "But if you keep being so nosey, you definitely won't get to meet her anytime soon, pipsqueak." He ruffled her hair even more this time, making a mess of it, but she still smiled at him, he was the sibling she had always wanted, and that would always make her smile.

 **A/N- A bit of a longer chapter this time! This chapter was more about him spending time with the cadets, getting to work with them in a... dangerous capacity, but they managed to work through it and prevail! There was also some sibling bonding at the end, with his blood sister and his (technically) sister in law, but she doesn't know that.**

 **Until next time, I hope you enjoyed!**


	17. 22nd Birthdays

(February 2nd, 849)

It was the time of year that Lucas hated the most, because it was when birthdays came around. He didn't hate that it was Frieda's birthday in February, in fact he liked it, he liked the fact that he could buy her a gift or do something for her without people thinking judging him for it.

What he hated about the month was that his birthday was twelve days after hers, and it was also on Valentines Day, which had opened up a whole new set of opportunities for Frieda once she had learned of the fact.

The first time they spent time with each other on his birthday was in 845 because she had scheduled the meetings in a way that he couldn't avoid it.

On that day she had bought him an expensive box of chocolates for him to eat as a sign of their 'growing friendship', but he suspected that she only did it in the hopes that he would share with her, which he did considering he didn't really have a sweet tooth.

The year after that was a lot different, because they had been together for about six months at that time, but their relationship was still in the works so to speak. Much to his ire on the day, she got him a cake and presented to him in front of her family members and told them that they were in a relationship.

Seeing the look on Rod's face when she told them almost made it entirely worth the embarrassment of her kissing him in front of her entire family, but Rod protested fervently, insisting that it was unbecoming of a noble to even consider having a relationship with a commoner.

Frieda didn't seem to share the same sentiments however, telling her father that since she had taken on the responsibilities of inheritance instead of him, that she would live her life as she saw fit for the remainder that was left of it.

That wasn't something that he would imagine he would see in his lifetime, the daughter of a powerful noble standing up ro her father, not because she was acting rebellious, but because she found a reason to. In all honesty, that was the moment he finally realised that he was falling in love with her.

She had such an easy out from the relationship, using her father as an excuse to break it off, but she didn't, she chose to stand up to her father and stick by him. It made him feel warm and fuzzy inside, something he had never felt like that before, and his heart would start pounding against his rib cage every time he looked at her.

At first he tried to ignore the feeling in his chest, believing that it would pass after some time, but as he soon found out, he kept getting that feeling, except it was getting worse, or was it better? He didn't know, and he definitely wasn't going to talk to her about it.

He was convinced that Frieda would either laugh at him, make fun of him, or tease him endlessly about it, so he refrained from mentioning it to her at any point in time, making sure that whenever she said she loved him, that he only said 'I know you do.'

The following year was a bit different to the others, usually Frieda would have a party thrown for her because she managed to live for another whole year, but her 21st birthday was different.

She wanted to spend the day with the two most important people in her life, rather than socialising with people who she barely knew and were there to either get into the good graces of her father, or to try and offer their hands in marriage to her, claiming that she would be 'better off' with them.

Watching her having to politely turn down requests of marriage at social gatherings that he had to attend with her made him want to drag her away from them to stop the borderline harassment that she was dealing with from petty nobles that couldn't take the hint that she was married, and no amount of money they threw at her would change that.

Maybe he did get a little jealous every time some stuck up and posh brat that claimed to be in his twenties greeted her with a kiss on her hand. Then there was the time that he genuinely wanted to cut her hair short because some guy decided that it would be alright for him to touch her hair, even though she was clearly uncomfortable about it and repeatedly asked him to stop.

It didn't get to the point where he was a crazed lover, willing to commit murder every time someone that he didn't like touched her, because he didn't think she would appreciate that too much. But he tried not to let it show, because is she knew he was jealous, then she might think that he didn't trust her, which could lead to even more problems, so he kept his feelings hidden from her and everybody else.

The only person he had told about the way he felt about her was his mother, and that was only because he didn't know what to do about these feelings, and he thought that she was the least likely to tease him and take him more seriously.

His mother was more than happy to discuss the fact that her son was in love with a girl, and explained to him that a little jealousy was normal in a relationship as it showed that he did in fact love her, and that his jealousy was his way of saying that he didn't want to lose her to someone else. At least that was her opinion on the matter.

However that was all in the past, and since there was no party for her 21st birthday, Rod had insisted that she have one this year. It was to take place at their estate in Wall Sina, with the dining room and the adjacent common room being transformed into a place that could hold as many guests as possible, with all the furniture being removed and a table being set up against the wall with all the food and drinks.

Upstairs in the main house though, both Frieda and Lucas were preparing themselves for the party. Lucas was already dressed and ready, but he had to wait for Frieda to finish up with her make up.

Lucas was dressed in his usual white button up shirt, with a black suit jacket and pants that had been so graciously given to him by Frieda for these 'social occasions.' He was laying down on their bed, staring at the ceiling with his arms outstretched, stretching himself to the fullest extent while he waited.

Frieda on the other hand, was dressed in a stunning sleeveless and black dress that brought matched her hair, with one strap going across her left shoulder. The back of the dress was left open to about her mid back, while the bottom ended just above her knees. It was simple, but it was elegant and made her look beautiful.

Instead of having her long and silky legs exposed, she liked to wear black tights on her legs at social gatherings, preferring to keep the sight of her exposed legs as a privilege reserved for only her husband is she could help it.

Before she married Lucas she would say she had gotten used to people staring at her, but now that she was in a committed relationship, she felt rather uncomfortable with the stares and looks she garnered, especially the ones off of the known single males in the room.

This was the first relationship she had ever been in period. Sure it had its ups and downs, the lows being the times where she found herself doubting the solidarity of the relationship, and being borderline depressed about it until he helped her out if it. The highs being the birth of their child Misako, learning the hard way how to be parents, constantly waking up in the middle of the night, trying to function on less than five hours sleep for months on end.

These were the moments that she treasures the most, the ones spent with two of the three people she loved most in this cruel word. She was running out of time and she knew it, there was only six years left until she had to pass on the duty of the Founding Titan to someone else. It killed her sometimes, thinking about what would happen at the end of those six years, not being there to see her child grow up into a woman.

There was a few times where she had spontaneously burst into a fit of tears just thinking about the future, knowing that she wouldn't be able to be there, having to be soothed for minutes on end until she eventually calmed down.

Overall their relationship was an extremely healthy one, they didn't fight, didn't shout at each other, they never hit each other at all. They both kept themselves exercising regularly, with Lucas' daily exercise being more intense than Frieda's was, and they had a good sex life... well one would say it was a good sex life, and the other would say 'all you think about is sex you filthy minded pervert, let me go to sleep before twelve o'clock for once.'

"Are you finished yet?" Lucas asked, tearing his gaze from the boring roof to where Frieda was finishing up her make up by applying red lipstick.

Frieda shifted her gaze slightly, being able to look at his reflection in the mirror she was sat in front of, smacking her lips together as she put the finishing touches onto her lips.

"You're not being very patient dear." She replied, smirking to herself as she watched him turn his head away from her when she said that.

"Can you please not call me that when we go downstairs?" He requested, still refusing to look at her. "You know I don't like it when you use those stupid pet names."

"I know you don't, but that's what makes me want to use them more honey." She replied, focusing on herself in the mirror again. "I find it adorable when you get embarrassed or flustered when I come up with a new one for you, I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner."

"Tch, whatever." He scoffed at her. "Just don't call me something stupid like sweetie, because I will find a way to sink into the floor if you do."

"I don't see why you care so much about what other people think about us." She turned her body to face him now. "I thought that you didn't care what people thought about you, so why do the pet names I call you make you so embarrassed?"

"I don't know... I just..." He was stumbling over his words, which was very out of character for him. "I'm not used to someone giving me affectionate pet names like you started to." He explained. "Because I was and still am the the most socially awkward person you'll ever meet. I can't string two sentences together without including a mild threat, empty or not."

"You didn't include a threat in those two sentences." Frieda teased him, standing up from the chair and walking towards the bed. "Stand up please." She managed to pull him up to where he was standing directly in front of her.

She was looking directly into his eyes, the blue eyes that he now had because of her. She wasn't saying anything, which made him a little uncomfortable so he averted his gaze from her eyes.

She put her left hand onto his cheek, with her thumb going under his chin, turning his head ever so gently to look at her. "Lucas, please look at me." She requested. "I don't mind that you're awkward if that's what you're worried about." She reassured him. "As long as you aren't trying to be someone you're not, that's all that matters to me. Just be yourself."

"You're doing it again." He mumbled out, still looking at her, feeling his face heating up.

"Doing what?" She asked, noticing the slight red tint on his cheeks, but not commenting on it.

"Saying the right things." He mumbled once again. "You always know what to say."

"That's my job as your wife." She gave him a quick peck on the lips. "I'm supposed to know what to say to you." She gave him another kiss, a little longer this time, and moved both of her arms to wrap around his neck. "We need to go downstairs before father wonders what's taking so long."

"Took you long enough." He muttered. "How long will it last anyway? I hate these things."

"I know you don't like them." She replied, moving her right hand to bring his left hand up to her face. "None of the males in that room can even compare to you in my eyes." She kissed his left hand where his wedding ring was, leaving red lipstick on his fingers and the ring when she pulled away. "You don't have to worry about them, I won't be tempted by their marriage offers."

Moving her head forward once again, she captured his lips in a chaste kiss, relishing in the contact before she pulled away, smirking slightly when she saw the faint res lipstick on his upper lip.

"Come on now." She offered him her arm. "It's your job to escort your Queen to her birthday party." He linked his arm with her, doing his job as her husband, but she couldn't resist making one more comment while they were alone. "Behave yourself, and I might give you a reward tonight."

"There it is." He replied. "I was wondering where the pervert went."

Arriving outside the dining room, Lucas opened the door for Frieda, where every eye in the room went to them. One by one, practically every person in the room came over to wish her a happy birthday, with Lucas having to stand next to her.

The women who said happy birthday also complimented her dress and hair, which had been done up into a famcy bun by Lucas earlier on. The grown men gave her a quick greeting and gave Lucas a glare, obviously knowing who he was and having their own strong opinions about the Scout Regiment.

Then there was the few brats in the room, claiming that they were adults, but acted more like spoiled children, especially when a girl they liked the look of was in the room, not giving a damn about her marital status.

"Frieda." A young man in his early twenties greeted her, the last to do so, taking her hand and placing a kiss on the back of it. "I hope you're having a fantastic birthday." He tried to give her a charming smile. "Have you reconsidered my offer."

"No Mr Innocencio." Frieda replied, trying to be as polite as possible in the face of one of the few people she knew and heavily disliked. "Like I told you before, I am no longer single."

"That doesn't mean that you won't be." He cockily replied, giving Lucas a sideways glance. "I personally believe that you could do far better than this... commoner."

"How nice of you to refrain from voicing your thoughts while I'm still here." Lucas deadpanned. "If you don't mind, I'm going to go somewhere where I don't have to constantly hold myself back from spewing everywhere at the sight of your abhorrent flirting skills." He faced Frieda for a second. "Good luck." And with that he turned and went towards where there was drink, at least the richest of society in the Walls had some half decent liquor.

While he poured himself a drink, he sniffed the beverage, knowing that he could never be too careful with what he ate and drank when he hadn't prepared it himself, because he honestly wouldn't put it past someone here to try and poison him in an attempt to get rid of him.

The drink smelled like it should, but he wasn't dumb enough to just drink it, so he spotted the next best thing nearby. Frieda's little sister, fifteen year old, soon to be sixteen Abel Reiss, because if someone had poisoned the drink somehow, they would definitely try and stop her from drinking it.

"Abel!" He called out to her. "Come here for a second." He gestured over to her, she was only fifteen, but nearly as tall as him.

"What's up brother in law?" She asked. "You ditch Frieda already?" She raised an eyebrow at him. "On her birthday too? That's cold."

"Yeah, something like that." He mumbled. "Has Rod ever let you try alcohol before?" He posed the question to her.

"No... why?" She eyed him suspiciously. "Father says I can when I'm eighteen though."

"Want to try some of mine?" He asked. "Rod doesn't have to know, neither does Frieda." He assured her.

"It won't kill me, right?" She skeptically asked him, unsure whether or not she should trust him.

"No, and it won't make you drunk either." He told her. "So don't get any ideas about faking being drunk to get something out of me either." He warned her.

"Sure." She shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen." She took the glass from him, and took a small sip, only for her throat to burn as she coughed it up. "Fucking hell!" She spluttered. "What the fuck did you put in that?"

"Nothing." He replied, taking the glass back from her. "It's supposed to taste like that." He took a sip from the glass, now sure that it wasn't poisoned.

"You asshole!" Abel hit him. "You did that on purpose!" She accused him. "You owe me now." He glanced over to her. "Either that, or I'll tell Frieda that you gave me alcohol."

"I should've expected this." He grumbled, taking another sip."What do you want Abel?"

"Teach me how to use your ODM gear."

"No." He instantly denied her request. "Because Frieda will kill me if she found out I taught you how to use it, and I like living quite a bit."

"How about teaching me to fight then?" She asked. "I saw you sparring with the guards one time, you took the three of them on quite easily."

"One, the Military Police are the epitome of useless when it comes to fighting." He reminded her. "Two, don't you already have someone to teach you how to fight?"

"I do, but Father always tells Uncle Kenny to take it easy on me." She replied. "I've seen you helping Frieda stay in shape, and you don't take it easy on her even though you're married to her."

It was definitely a more reasonable request, but was it really worth it in the end? What would Frieda do if she found out he gave Abel alcohol? Probably make him sleep in another room, then end up in the bed with him anyway because she would get lonely.

But if she found out that Abel broke something because of him? She would probably just do the same thing to be honest, she was far too soft, especially when it came to him.

"Alright then Abel, I'll help you learn to fight." She could sense a 'but' coming though. "But if you break something, I get to use you as a shield to avoid Frieda's wrath. Deal?" He held out his hand for her.

"Deal." She shook his hand rather enthusiastically. "You better watch out, I'm gonna kick your ass!" She warned him.

"Sure you will." He rolled his eyes at her as she went off to do god knows what.

For the next forty five minutes or so, he stood, leaning against a wall, bored out of his mind. He couldn't even be bothered to get another drink, instead keeping his eyes on Frieda to make sure nobody tried to do anything to her without making it look like he was stalking her.

Some people did come over to talk to him, wanting to alleviate his boredom he obliged them, politely discussing whatever they desired until they got to the point where occupation was the question, with them all leaving shortly after they found out what he did.

There was even another girl that tried to talk with him, even trying to flirt with him. That was until he held up his hand with the ring on it, and unknowingly the red stain was still there. Safe to say, once he made it clear he wasn't interested, the girl left in a huff, probably to find some other guy to lead on.

His boredom went on until some music started playing, with everyone creating a circle in the dining room, and Frieda approaching him, taking him by the hand and leading him to the centre of the room.

"Frieda, you know I can't dance." Lucas reminded her, trying to resist but ultimately failing as she already had her hands on hos shoulders.

"It's really simple." She guided his hands to her waist. "Just follow my lead and stay in time with the music." She explained to him.

He glanced around the room, seeing that basically everyone was now watching the two dance alone. "Why is everyone just watching us?"

"I was getting fed up of being flirted with truth be told." She admitted, swaying with him in time with the music. "I also wanted to spend time with you, since you ditched me I've been flirted with and gotten marriage proposals non stop."

"Oh, so I also get the satisfaction of knowing that they'll be watching, how wonderful."

She rolled her eyes at his joke. "You could take it that way, or you could see it as a way to spend time with me. I could see you watching me you know? It's so cute that you would look out for me like that."

"Don't call me cute." His face heated up just a tad bit. "I was only making sure that they didn't do anything untoward to you." He told her.

"While you were doing that, I had father make sure that everyone had to stay for this dance." She moved her fingers so they were able to play with his hair whike hey danced.

"Why?" He quirked an eyebrow at her. "Have you had enough already."

"I have." She nodded. "Besides, parties aren't really my thing anyway, I would much rather have gotten a cake and a kiss."

"Really?" He was skeptical of that, there was no way her inner pervert would be satisfied with just a kiss. "Is that why you had everyone form a circle, so you could get a kiss?"

"No, I did that so they could all get a good look at this."

"At what? Us dancing?"

"No." She moved her hands from his shoulders to the front of his suit jacket, gripping it as tight as she could. "This." She leaned down to kiss him as aggressively as she could, making sure that everyone, especially the guys that couldn't get it through their thick skulls that she wasn't interested saw this. She made sure to make it look as passionate and as hot as possible, raking her nails through his scalp and at one point moving her hand down to have a quick squeeze of his ass.

Pulling away and out of breath, Lucas stared at he incredulously, not believing the stunt she had just pulled to make sure they knew that he was hers and she was his.

(Later that night)

The door to the room slammed open and was shut as soon as Lucas and Frieda entered the room. They couldn't keep their hands off each other, with Frieda pressing the shorter man roughly against the door, pinning his arms to his sides while she attacked his lips with her own.

His lips were swollen because of the constant sucking and nibbling she had done in the time it took them to get to their room. His lips were red, as was his cheek, jaw, neck as was his ear, all a result of Frieda roaming his face with her lips.

Her grip on his wrists shifted, forcing them upwards and above his head, meaning that she was able to press herself up against him as much as she wanted to, and using her tongue to part his lips and allow her access to his mouth.

She gave out a soft moan into his mouth as her tongue explored the familiar territory, knowing exactly what to do to get him aroused even more than he already was.

She moved her left leg upwards, rubbing her thigh against the growing bulge forming in his pants, feeling the vibrations of his soft moans on her lips, she rubbed against him harder, eager to draw out even more from him.

Once she pulled away, she immediately attacked his jaw with more kisses, moving down his neck with small kisses, bites and small nibbles on his skin, savouring the shaky breaths he let out, knowing that he was powerless to stop her ruthless assault on him.

"Frieda..." He breathed out, still unable to remove himself from her grip, tilting his head further to the side to give her better access to his neck. "You're awfully aggressive tonight, what's the deal?"

"The only deal is that these clothes come off." She whispered, finally moving her hands from his wrists and to his jacket, shedding it from him with incredible ease and dumping it on the floor.

"Now take my dress off." She ordered him, with him complying easily, reaching down to the hem of her dress and pulling it up and over the top of her head, leaving her in only her bra and panties. That's when he realised that she wasn't wearing tights, she was wearing stockings, a pair that stopped at the top of her thighs and looked very enticing.

"You can stare later tonight." She had a hold of his shirt now, pushing him backwards towards the bed and sitting him down on the edge, getting on her knees between his legs. "Let me take care of you right now."

She removed his shoes and socks first, carelessly throwing them over her shoulder. Then came his belt, which she took her time doing, constantly rubbing her hands 'accidentally' against his crotch. Once she had it off though, she untucked his shirt, opening the bottom button and placed a gentle kiss on the bottom of his abdomen, followed by another kiss, and another one, making sure that he felt her touch with every passing moment.

She opened another button, slowly making her way up his stomach, leaving behind spit, drool and the faintest marks of lipstick that still remained on her lips.

She opened a third button, being able to kiss just below his chest, and being able to touch the lowest scar, giving it the softest of butterfly kisses, making sure that he wasn't uncomfortable with her doing that.

She didn't bother teasing him with the last three buttons, prefering to get the shirt out if the way faster, making sure that every scar got the same amount of attention from her, giving each one a slow and sensual lick with her tongue.

Adjusting her position slightly, she let her left hand rest on his thigh to keep herself steady as she moved her mouth across his chest, moving her right hand up his body as she did so, moving it up to his chest and rubbing it against his nipple, taking note of the sigh he released when she did so.

She knew everything about him when it came to sex, his hidden desires, his unspoken passions, all the hidden kinks he tried to keep hidden from her, only to have her pry them out of him in the bedroom.

She knew his nipples were sensitive to sexual stimulation, that's why she always went for them first, because is she could get him worked up and in the mood, she was guaranteed to have a great time.

When she put her lips around his other nipple and tugged on it, he let out a shuddered breath and moved one hand to the back of her head, but instead of pulling her away like most people might, instead he kept her there, his way of encouraging her to keep going without having to say it.

Needless to say she obliged his unspoken request, pulling and twisting one nipple with her hand while the other was in her mouth, her tongue flicking it, her teeth gently biting and pulling, while she sucked on the now hardened bud, pulling away with a pop and switching sides, repeating her actions on the other side, relishing the short breaths and quiet moans she heard from him.

She finished with the stimulation, moving her hands back up to the sides of his face and enveloping his lips in a deep kiss, it wasn't heated or rough, it slow and loving, making sure that they could take their time, knowing that they wouldn't be disturbed.

She pulled away and stood up, pulling him with her, noticing that his pupils had dilated quite a bit since they started, she bit her lip in anticipation for what was about to happen next. She stopped at the desk against the wall, placing her hands flat on the surface and bending over so that her ass was in full view for him.

"You know what to do." She wiggled her hips to entice him, which she seemed to succeed in since he dropped to his knees and started rubbing her stocking covered legs, placing gente kisses at the very top of the back of her thighs where there was exposed skin.

He moved his hands upwards, giving her ass a gentle squeeze as he did, but before he got any further, she stopped him from doing so.

"Don't take them off using your hands." She was obviously referring to her panties. "Use your teeth baby, work for it."

An unusual request, but it wasn't something she hadn't asked for before, so he had a little practice in removing her underwear with only his teeth before.

He gripped her thighs firmly, rubbing small circles with his thumbs while he reached up with his teeth, managing to get his bottom teeth under the garment of clothing, though not without scraping her cheek slightly, he then closed his jaw, and started to pull on her underwear.

She wasn't making it easy for him, especially with how she kept on swaying her hips constantly, trying to draw it out as long as possible. He knew what she was trying to do, trying to draw out the foreplay as long as possible to make sure that he was hard and ready for her.

She didn't have to do that though, because there was basically a 100 percent chance that they were going to have sex, unless somebody was being murdered in the house, he would be fine with a little foreplay and straight to sex, as long as he didn't go in dry, because that wasn't a pleasant experience when they tried it.

Forcing her to stay still, he pulled her underwear down with his teeth, almost losing his grip and having to start again, but he managed to het it down to where he just used his hands to pull it the rest of the way down, with her stepping out of the underwear and going back to her position, wiggling her ass right in front of his face.

"Come on baby." She sensually whispered to him, arching her back and pushing herself closer to him. "Come and get your reward."

"Mmmm..." She moaned out softly as she felt him start to lick her lower lips from behind. She bit her lip, her eyes half lidded, curling her fingers to scratch the desk, pushing back into him ever so slightly, feeling his hands on her thighs and his hot tongue inside of her was like heaven.

"Lucas baby..." She moaned again. "Your hot tongue feels sooo good inside me." She was pushing back even harder against his face now, wanting him to go as deep as possible with his wet appendage. "I want it deeper inside me, like how you did last week."

Feeling his licking and his lips kissing against her lower lips made her breaths shallower and faster. Her toes began to curl, her fingers now moving back and forth constantly, going from standing on her tip toes and back down, rubbing herself up and down on his mouth, feeling the tip of his nose rubbing against her on multiple occasions.

She let out a sharp gasp when she felt his fingers go to her front and play with her clit, her left hand flying back and weaving her fingers through his hair, she gripped on and kept him in place, pushing him further and deeper, while at the same time having her clit rubbed and tugged at, making her arm that she was supporting herself with wobble slightly.

"Oh god..." She breathed out, feeling his hot and wet tongue licking her walls, making her wet in the process, bringing her closer to climax with every passing second.

The hand that she was supporting herself with was wobbling now, her legs were also shaking slightly at the pleasure emanating from her core, his mouth and fingers working wonders for her as they licked her insides and his fingers rubbed, pulled and pinched her clit.

"Fuck..." She whispered, her arm giving way as she fell down slightly, now leaning on her forearm to support her upper body, arching her back even further and pushing her ass against his face as hard as she could. "Keep going baby." She encouraged him, using her hand to pull him in closer.

"Holy shit..." She muttered as she felt two of his fingers penetrate her vagina, increasing the current pleasure she was feeling tenfold. "That feels amazing." She groaned, feeling his fingers curl inside her and pumping faster and faster.

She had to move her hand from his head to support herself, feeling her core tighten around his fingers, curling her toes and standing on the tips of her toes, bucking her hips backwards as she felt the pure wave of pleasure wash over her.

"Fuck!" She grunted, slamming one hand against the desk as she came, the release washing over her as he played with her clit, drawing out her orgasm for as long as possible.

She slumped over once the feeling stopped, her chest heaving, taking in deep breaths as she basked in the afterglow of that stunning orgasm he had given her, all the while he pulled away from her, taking his two fingers into his mouth and licking them clean, enjoying the tangy and slightly salty flavour of her juices.

By the time he had stood up again, she had regained her breath enough to turn to face him, still leaning on the desk for support as she unclipped her bra and tossed it aside, letting her breasts hang free from their fabric prison.

"Come here you." She reached out to pull him towards her, overlapping his lips with her own, her tongue invading his mouth, licking every part with ease as she tasted herself on him, something she just loved to do.

While they were kissing, he had his hands on her hips, keeping her in a steady and stable position, while her hands moved down his muscled torso to his pants, easily undoing the button and pulling them down, leaving him clad in only his skin tight boxers now, doing nothing to hide the large bulge at the front.

She palmed him through his boxers, hearing him sigh into her mouth she continued rubbing him, feeling the very familiar muscle, until her hands went around his waist and to his ass, giving it a hard squeeze in the process.

"Most girls would kill to have an ass as tight as yours love." She told him with a slight grin adorning her face. "You're lucky I'm not a guy, otherwise I would have taken it for myself a long time ago."

"Your ass isn't half bad either." He gave ger ass a rough squeeze this time. "Lucky for you I am a guy, and I took it for myself a long time ago."

"Touché." She giggled, pushing him back to the bed, managing to pin him down successfully and straddle him, her still clothed thighs keeping him in place as his crotch was buried deep between her legs, the only thing keeping him from straight up fucking her was the thin piece of cloth he still had on.

She took a hold of his hands and brought them up to her breasts. "Squeeze them baby, hard and rough, just how I like it." She whispered, rocking her hips back and forth, staining his boxers with the wetness that was her vagina as she moved it back and forth along his clothed cock.

He obeyed her command, using his hands he started to play with her breasts, groping them roughly, squeezing hard and tugging and twisting her nipples, just like she had for him while she continued rocking against him, with no indication that she was going to let up.

"Mmm fuck..." She moaned as he pulled and pinched her nipples even harder this time, gasping in delight when he leaned up to use his mouth for the job, making her grind against him harder and faster determined to make him go crazy with pleasure like she had.

Despite all this it wasn't enough for her, she wanted him to fuck against her through his boxers, to dry hump him like an animal would, so she told him exactly.

"Lucas, move your hips against mine." She requested. "I want to feel how much you want this."

He began to do exactly that, moving his hips upwards into her, his cock straining his boxers, begging to be let free as they humped each other, both practically begging for it to be removed.

Eventually she had enough of the denial that she was receiving, scrambling to pull his boxers off and letting his dick spring free of it's own prison, taking it in her hand and placing it at her soaking wet entrance.

"Wait." He stopped her. "Did you take the smartweed before we came up here?"

"No I didn't." She shook her head. "It doesn't matter, just let me..." She went down onto the head of his penis, only for him to stop her midway through.

"You're gonna get pregnant again if you don't take it." He warned her. "Is that something you want to happen?"

"Yes... it is something I want."

"What?!"

"I've been thinking it over for some time now." She pushed herself down the rest of his penis, now having it fully inside her. "This is something that I am sure that I want... please let me."

"You're either really brave or really stupid." He told her, moving his hands onto her hips. "But if it's something that you really want... then fuck it, as long as it's a boy this time."

That's exactly what Frieda wanted to hear, so she pressed her hands firmly against his chest, keeping him in place and began to roll her hips forwards and backwards, moaning in pleasure as she felt his thick shaft inside her, hitting all the right spots as she constantly rolled her hips.

"You're so deep inside of me Lucas..." She breathed out, stopping her movements in favour of bouncing up and down on his cock now, giving him some pleasure instead. "Thrust upwards baby, make me moan your name in ecstasy..."

He started off doing that, being able to time his thrusts with her dropping on his cock, meeting her halfway with each thrust, her walls massaging his muscle and keeping it in a state of pure bliss, but he wasn't going to cum yet, not until she had done so at the very least.

She caught him off guard by pinching and twisting his nipples again, causing him to buck his hips upwards into her as he moaned this time, unable to contain himself.

"Keep doing that Frieda." He breathed out heavily, moving his hands from her hips to slide up and down her arms. "It feels so good..."

Hearing him say that reinvigorated her, twisting and pulling even harder, seeing the skin turning red, hearing him moan her name was like a shot of energy, making her ride him harder and faster, determined to give them both an intense orgasm.

When he sat up suddenly, she was momentarily worried that he wanted to stop, but those worries were thrown out the window when his hands took a firm grip of each ass cheek, helping to bring her up and down on his shaft even faster than before.

Shifting her position, she moved her legs from pinning his sides to wrapping them around his back, the silk stockings she was wearing rubbing up against his lower back and waist.

"Come on baby, give it to me harder." She encouraged him, gripping onto his shoulders firmly and kissing him fiercely, and in turn he thrusted up into her, keeping in time with her riding, making sure that he went as deep as possible with each thrust.

"Frieda... I'm gonna cum..." He told her, his face tinged a red colour, sweat all over his body.

"Me too!" She quickly told him, sweat all over her body as well, feeling herself start to tighten around him as he brought her up and down even harder now. "Fuck! I'm cumming-" She was cut off as he kissed her, keeping her screams down, but she moaned very heavily into his mouth.

"Mmm!" He grunted into her mouth as ge came, pushing into her as deep as humanly possible, painting her insides white with his semen, his fingers digging into the flesh of her ass, pushing her down as much as he could, attempting to make it as good as possible.

"Fuck." He flopped backwards onto the bed, Frieda following suit, their foreheads now touching, still connected down below. "That was..."

"Amazing?" She interrupted him. "Mind blowing?" She suggested. "Earth shattering?"

"It was... I've never came that hard before." He admitted, raising a hand to gently cup her cheek. "Do you think that will make you pregnant?"

"I'm not so sure about that." She innocently replied, but not so innocently licking her lips. "I think we'll have to keep going, just to make sure." If the perverse grin on her face was anything to go by, they were definitely going to be fucking well into the morning.

(Unspecified amount of time later)

"Fuck!" Frieda gasped, now on her hands and knees on the bed, her legs now completely bare and void of the previous clothing as they wobbled slightly with every thrust that Lucas was giving her.

His mind now void of any semblance of hesitance or reluctancy, Lucas was now ploughing into her from behind, fingers gripping tightly onto her waist, hard enough to leave imprints there are he fucked Her furiously, pumping his cock in and out of her.

"You're being very crass tonight Frieda." He teased her, not stopping his thrusting in the slightest, making her moan in ecstasy. "What happened to the noble woman who lived up to certain expectations?"

"Lucas, if you don't start fucking me even harder, you'll see just how crass I can get!" She threatened him. "I do have expectations set for me, but right now I expect you to fuck me as hard as you can, I expect not to be able to walk properly tomorrow."

Hearing her say that so openly made his libido spike, he wanted to please her, to make her satisfied, and if he had to fuck her into the ground, then so be it.

He gripped her hips harder, speeding up his thrusts, hips slapping against her ass, the sound of her moans, his grunts and the slapping of skin loud enough for anyone passing by to hear.

"If you aren't pregnant by the end of the night, I think you might have made me sterile." He joked, hitting deep inside her vagina, making her start to squirm beneath him. "We have so much sex that I'm surprised it still feels this amazing, I thought it would get boring after a few times."

"It feel this good because we both put the effort- fuck!- into it." She told him, her arms collapsing under her, her head now on the bed with her ass still in the air. "Now keep fucking me until we both cum! I want it inside me so badly!"

Instead of pounding her into the bed like she thought he would, he wrapped an arm around her and brought her back up, straightening her back and pulling her to his chest, one arm supporting her weight while groping her breast, while his other hand slid down her stomach, all the way to where her swollen clit resided, with it being so sensitive, it wasn't a surprise when she cursed at his touch.

"Shit!" She threw her arms backwards, wrapping them around his head as he pumped his cock into her, having to thrust upwards but this felt like euphoria for her, the bliss of having her breasts played with, her clit sensitive and being stimulated, and her husbands throbbing cock filling her up, destroying her insides and reshaping her to fit him perfectly.

The only thing missing was the touch of his lips, which she got after twisting her head to face him, pulling and tugging his hair as she aggressively kissed him, feeling her core tighten for the umpteenth time tonight.

"Frieda, I'm gonna cum again." He told her.

"Me too." Her body started shaking as he hit her g-spot from the inside as he rubbed her clit. "Fill me up with your cum baby, make me yours again."

"Oh fuck Lucas, I'm cumming! Fuck I'm cumming!"

When she came, she came hard, drizzling his cock with her juices as her orgasm ripped through her, making it so much easier for him to slide in and out of her until he blew his load right after her, spilling rope after rope of his cum into her pussy, still playing with her clit to make it ever so better for her.

They stayed in that position for a few minutes, with Frieda's mind drawing a blank while Lucas peppered her neck, shoulder and cheek with small and soft kisses.

They fell onto the bed, on their side, with Lucas spooning her from behind as he pulled the covers over their sweat soaked and semen filled bodies. On any other occas he would probably find it disgusting, but not with her, she could make anything bearable if she tried.

He pulled her right up against him, as close as humanly possible, leaving barely enough room for air between them. He wasn't a very possessive person, but this was his way of letting her know that she was his, and she was more than okay with that.

Right before she fell asleep, she placed her hand over her naked stomach, there was no way that she wasn't pregnant, not with the amount of semen that he pumped into her, and she knew somehow, that they were going to have a boy this time.

(14th February)

This was probably the most nervous that Lucas had been in a while. Frieda was in the bathroom taking a pregnancy test while he waited patiently in their room, sitting on the edge of the bed in silence as he waited for her return.

He already had one child with her, so what was another going to be like? First of all at least he knew roughly what to do now, unlike the first time around where they both had no clue what to do, and she ended up asking her mother for tips while he asked his own mother.

The only problem was that bringing up a second child was going to cause sleeping problems for him again, he barely slept when Misako cried through the night, and he didn't think that there would be an exception this time around.

But that was all based on the possibility that she was with child, because there was a chance that she may not be, abd that would mean trying again, and again and again until they finally succeeded, and while the process was something that made them both feel great, the last thing he needed was Frieda on a sex fueled rampage because she couldn't get pregnant.

As he was thinking about all the ways that this could go wrong, the door opened and Frieda stepped in, closing the door behind her and leaning against it. He immediately stood up, facing her and asking the question with his eyes.

She only nodded enthusiastically at him, giving him a large smile as she did, walking towards him and wrapping him in a tight hug, which he reciprocated easily.

"It was positive." She told him. "I am pregnant again."

"Frieda..." Something came over him, he suddenly wanted to tell her how he felt, for real this time. "There's... there's something I need to tell you."

"What is it?" She gently inquired. "Is there something wrong."

"No, nothing's wrong." He replied. "I just... I need to say this... but I'm not sure how to."

"It's okay, take your time." She reassured him, placing a hand on his cheek. "You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." That did it for him, the way she spoke to him, she cared so much about him, about his feelings, it was now or never for him.

"Frieda I... I..." He found it difficult to speak for some reason, but she gently stroked his cheek ans smiled sweetly at him, which calmed him down slightly and made his heart start to race. "I... I love you..."

"W-What?"

"I said I love you Frieda." He told her again, his face tinging a slight red when he saw how wide her smile was.

"I love you too!" She squealed excitedly, hugging him as tight as she could. "You have no idea how long I've waited to hear you say that, and it sounded so much better than I imagined it would."

"Frieda..." He groaned, but she placed a finger over his lips, silencing him.

"We're going to have sex now." She told him bluntly. "You gave me the best birthday sex I've ever had, so it's only fair that I give you amazing sex on your birthday as well."

He turned his head away from her. "Pervert." He muttered, but then kissed her softly. "But you're my pervert."

Frieda grinned perversely and licked her lips, this was definitely going to be another long night.

 **A/N- Another chapter is here! And another look into the home life of my favourite soldier and the Queen of the Walls. But even in the end, the hardest of walls will crumble, which is exactly what happened at the end, he said he loved her, how cute! Next chapter will be back to the 104th cadet corps. Until next time, I hope you enjoyed!**


	18. Combat Training

**A/N- A long wait, but the update is finally here. I'm so sorry about taking so long. I'm trying to get better with my consistency. But next chapter will have some Titan action in it, and it's not Trost, so something to look forward to there. Anyway, I hope you enjoy!**

 **If you have anything to say, please don't hesitate. I'm always happy to recieve feedback or criticism.**

Morning sex was definitely the best kind of sex there was... at least in Frieda's humble opinion it was.

Sure she saw the appeal of nighttime sex, it wasn't that she disliked it, as it turned out, she loved sex, maybe a little too much, even she was willing to admit that, did she love it enough to commit adultery when Lucas wasn't around? Absolutely not, he was one of the shining lights in her life, and there was no way she would willingly extinguish that over some desires she had.

Back to her original point, while having sex at night was the most optimal time to do it considering it was time she and Lucas were guaranteed to be alone with no one to bother them, there was something about waking up when he did and enticing him back to the bed with the offer of a long and pleasurable experience that got her blood pumping.

Sure there were times that they had sex deep into the night, times that neither of them actually woke up until the afternoon because they tired each other out so much.

But a part of the thrill in the morning was how her body ached and was as stiff as a board, the way he complained about the soreness of his hips, or the irremovable cramp in his legs when he woke up after a night of extreme passion.

Sure she was a nympho, as Lucas so graciously liked to point out to her, but he was definitely as bad as her sometimes. He would deny it, and technically he was correct since she was the main instigator when they did have sex, he was still the main cause of her longing for more, even after multiple orgasms in the same night.

There was always a telling with him if he was up for it, and his was that his pupils would dilate slightly if he was horny, and because she always made a point to look him in the eyes before sex, she always knew how far to take it with him.

Now while her father most definitely wouldn't approve of these 'activities' she was partaking in with her husband, she was long past caring, every time he did it with her, she was satisfied, even when there were times that he looked tired he still made a point to leave her satisfied for the night.

There were times where he had bent her over the bed and fucked her so hard that she felt like she was being split in half with the force he was using. Some mornings she had to bite her hand so hard that blood came rushing out, in an attempt to prevent anyone from outside from barging into the room thinking she was being murdered.

There were also times in the morning where she made him blush so hard that she could have cooked her a steak with her whisperings, telling him exactly how she wanted it, sparing no detail as she carefully explained how she wanted him to bend her over in a standing position, her hands flat on the bed, his hips slamming against her ass as he pounded relentlessly into her.

But then again, that was only this morning that she had said that to him, so as a good husband should, he was giving her exactly what she wanted.

"God yes..." Frieda moaned out, hands flat on the bed, legs straight and kept together, long black hair splayed messily all over her back, knowing that he would force her into the shower when they were finished. "You're going to split me in half... you're so fucking big..."

Lucas wasn't in much better shape than her, he was sweating hard, much like she was, except his was from putting actual effort in and her sweat was probably from getting off so much.

"I don't think that's physically possible you know." He commented as he moved a hand up her back softly, in comparison to how he was railing her, it was quite nice. "I may be stronger than your whole family combined, but I don't think my dick will split you in half."

"You're not experiencing what I'm feeling though." She countered, her legs starting to tremble ever so slightly as her second orgasm of the morning came nearer and nearer. "Every part of you is so great, you're the perfect husband, aside from your dangerous profession of course."

He slowed to a stop, pulling out to where only his tip was inside of her. "We agreed to not talk about my job." He thrusted back inside of her as hard as he could, definitely leaving a red mark on her ass. "... You did that on purpose, didn't you?"

"You're teasing me, that's why." She looked behind to give him a pointed glare. "You know I hate it when you tease me, just fuck me hard and make me cum, you aren't going to hurt the baby this early into the pregnancy."

"I know that." He squeezed her hips tightly, leaving marks there with his fingers. "I just find it entertaining to hear you swear, it's not very becoming of a lady."

"You'll get to hear me swear more if you start fucking me again!" She hissed at him, annoyed that he was doing the teasing instead of her. "Don't make me beg you..."

He wasn't cruel, and he definitely knew not to make a woman like her mad, because while he may have superior strength to her, she was one of the people he was genuinely scared of aside from his mother, those two were truly terrifying when they wanted to be.

Thrusting his hips back and forth like she asked, slamming himself in and out of her at a ferocious pace, making Frieda stand on the tips of her toes, desperate for any kind of release as the pressure built up inside of her.

"Fuuuuuck." She groaned out, eyes starting to roll into the back of her head. "My legs... are going to give- shit!" She cursed halfway through as her orgasm hit her, release washing all over her body as her legs gave way, though she didn't fall, instead being kept in the same position by Lucas, easily holding her up as he continued to pound his cock into her.

"F-Fuck!" Frieda half shrieked, half moaned, her toes curling and her feet dangling off the floor, her arms being the only things keeping her balanced at the moment. "T-That feels so fucking gooood... you're going to make me cum again!"

That's what he wanted, she was already tighter than a vice around his penis, but he wanted it tighter, which meant that she would be cumming even harder, so with a small flick of his wrists, her hips were angled slightly downwards while his thrusts went upwards ever so slightly, his penis hitting her most sensitive spot like it was a barn door and he was a Titan... well he most definitely was inside of her.

"My god..." Her feet came all the way up to the back of her thighs, letting out a loud scream as she came once again, her juices dripping all over his cock, which was still going in and out of her.

"Fuck!" Lucas groaned as he buried himself as deep as he could into her, cumming inside of her for the second time this morning, filling her up to the brim with his milky white seed, painting her insides as white as humanly possible.

They collapsed onto the bed, both of them spent after another round of hot and steamy sex, with Frieda face down on the sweat and cum stained bed sheets, Lucas laying on his back right next to her.

Lazily, her right arm found it's way over to him, draping it over his chest, just about managing to drag her body over to his, head on his chest, mouth hung open and a small amount of drool coming out.

"Shower... in one minute." He spoke up, trying to catch his breath. "No exceptions, your hair is filthy, so is mine, it needs extensive washing."

"Mhm..." She sighed out, lazily opening her eyes to look at his face, well the bottom of it to be more precise. "Have I ever told you how handsome you are?"

"Occasionally." He simply responded with.

"Well I think you're very handsome baby, the most handsome man I've ever seen." She complimrnted him, which didn't sit well with him, she wanted something, and was buttering him up. "Your new eye colour makes you look cute too, and you always have your baby face, it's almost like you can't grow a beard."

"I could grow one if I wanted to, I just think I'd look ridiculous with one." He replied swiftly. "I shave almost every day, I need something to do while you laze around in bed."

Propping herself up on her elbow, ignoring the strain it was actually causing her. "I think you would look good with a beard on your face, not too long, but maybe some stubble?"

"You... you think so?" He asked her. "I always thought you wouldn't want me to grow a beard."

"I don't think so, I know so Lucas." She told him. "You look fantastic no matter what, I'm just so lucky that it was me you decided to insult that day in Trost, otherwise we probably wouldn't even be here."

"What do you want?" His face went back to blank, fully convinced that she wanted something from him.

"I don't know what you mean?" She innocently asked him. "Can't a woman compliment her dashing husband without needing something?"

"I'm sure some can, I probably wouldn't have asked if I wasn't sure you wanted something, and since you brought up Trost, I know you're after something." He kept up with the blank look. "If you want something, I already told you, all you have to do is ask."

"Well in that case, I kind of want to stay in bed today... with you." She smiled sheepishly at him.

"Of course you do." He sighed in annoyance. "What about Misako? We can't just dump her with your parents because you want to laze about all day."

"She could join us." Frieda suggested. "She absolutely loves you, more than me anyway." She grumbled out. "I'm convinced she's going to grow up to be a daddy's girl."

"That... doesn't sound like a bad idea." She smiled at him, grateful that he had accepted her idea. "Of course we'll have to shower first, and then change the bed sheets, and the blankets. I'll have to go and find Mikaso and pry her out of the hands of whatever member of your insane family has her."

He huffed out in annoyance, sitting up and taking her with him towards the adjacent room where her personal bathroom was. "We'll get washed and I'll take care of the rest, okay?"

Frieda nodded happily at him, relishing in the fact he was carrying her to the shower, knowing that she would get to spend the day with the two most important people in her life... well three if you count the fact that she was currently two weeks pregnant with another child. Nevertheless she wanted to spend as much time as she could with them, because soon enough, she would be out of time.

(Summer, 849)

The Cadets of the 104th were hard at training, running through the mud in the forest, rain still pouring down while they were currently being assessed on their physical abilities rather than ODM right now.

Every Cadet was wearing a backpack filled with gear to weigh them down, it was designed to whittle out the weak, but also to see if anyone had the balls to go against Shadis' orders and help the weakest members.

At the very front of the pack was Lucas, who wasn't carrying anything aside from his Scout Regiment cape to keep himself dry, running backwards while yelling at them to speed up, all while Shadis stayed near the rear of the group.

"Pick up the pace you lead heeled laggards!" Shadis yelled at them from his horse, riding alongside the Cadets like he usually did. "Boots waterlogged Arlert?" He slowed his horse down to ride alongside the struggling male. "Let's see some hustle! Gear too heavy for you son? Hell, drop it. Leave it in the mud! The Titan's will have it easier digesting you without all the excess baggage." He sped up to catch up with the others, but kept an eye on him.

"Seriously?" His fellow blonde Cadet asked, taking his backpack and putting it onto his own shoulder. "Here, focus on staying upright. We are being graded on this you know?" Reiner told him.

"Yes, but uh... won't they demerit you for helping?" Armin asked, finding it slightly easier to run with the weight lifted from his shoulders.

"Yeah, if they find out." Reiner told him. "Just make the cut and we're even, alright?"

Up ahead, Shadis was watching them, taking mental notes in his head. " _Reiner Braun, the mind and constitution of a grass fed ox. Respected by his comrades._ " His gaze shifted to Armin, waiting to see what he would do.

"I'm no ones burden, you hear me?" Armin muttered, getting a second wind and speeding up, taking his backpack back from Reiner and catching up with the main group of trainees.

" _Armin Arlert._ " Shadis was a little surprised with his sudden desire to catch up. " _Built like a daffodil, but academically brilliant._ "

Once the Cadets finished their graded run, they were all told to put on their ODM gear and prepare to attack the wooden cutouts of Titans hidden in the forest.

One of the Instructors pulled the rope to lift the wooden Titan as three trainees descended upon it, Annie, Bertholdt and Jean.

Annie and Bertholdt slashed at it first, creating clean and deep cuts into the nape, while Jean's wasn't as deep as theirs.

" _Annie Leonhart._ " Shadis was stood in the trees above, taking note of their strengths and weaknesses. " _Gifted with a sword, but doesn't exactly play well with others._ "

His attention was turned to the tallest trainee in the camp. " _Bertholdt Hoover, heaps of native talent, but too mild mannered._ "

Finally his attention was brought to the brown haired male. " _Jean Kirstein, head of the class on ODM gear, also an insufferable smartass with a hair trigger temper._ "

"Think those show offs can slice and dice?" Jean muttered to himself as he looked for a new target. "Best hope you see a Titan before I do." He sped up with his gear, flying through the forest. " _Military Police, save a place for Jean!_ " He thought to himself.

"Way to lead the charge!" Connie called out as he nipped in front of Jean. "You don't mind if I steal your thunder right?" He slashed at the nape perfectly.

Though his attention was brought to an incoming Sasha, who screamed loudly in excitement as she swung on her gear, barely missing the ground as she bounced back up.

" _Sasha Blouse._ " Shadis spotted his favourite Cadet. " _Unusually fine instincts, rarely shares it with her teammates._ "

His focus turned to his second favourite. " _Connie Springer, agile on the switchbacks, few sandwiches shy of a picnic._ "

Another two Titan cutouts were raised, but this time it was in front of the raven haired prodigy Mikasa, who easily sliced the two napes apart, followed by Eren who couldn't cut in deep enough, who was visibly upset that he hadn't managed to cut as deep as her.

" _Mikasa Ackerman, model Cadet, excels in everything._ " Shadis wrote down. " _In fact, it's no overstatement to call the girl a genius._ "

" _Eren Yeager._ " Shadis' attention went to the son of his friend Grisha. " _Lacklustre in the classroom, marginally better in the field, but, driven by a sense of purpose that's almost terrifying._ "

Putting the pencil down, Shadis glanced next to him where Lucas stood, and he looked to have been scribbling a fair few notes down.

"What do you think?" Shadis spoke up. "I know they're nothing compared to you at the moment, but some of them have some potential." He noted.

"If you're gonna say Mikasa then you can save it, I already know she has potential." He waved it off. "I don't need to hear it again." He continued writing some stuff down.

"I wouldn't expect anything less from the younger sister of Humanities Strongest Soldier." Shadis said aloud. "Have you two figured something out about the gear that nobody else has? Or did you train her before she applied here?"

"It just comes to us." He curtly replied. "That's all I can say about it."

Shadis leaned over to him, trying to get a look at what he was writing down, only to have the clipboard turned out of view from him.

"Sorry Shadis, but this is official Scout Regiment business, authorised eyes only." He apologised, jumping off the tree and activating his gear to slow his descent.

Now while Shadis wasn't going to invade his privacy and look at his notes without permission, he could've sworn he saw Armoured, Colossal and Female Titan's written down, with question marks on all three.

He didn't know what it meant, or what he was writing about, but Shadis sure as hell wasn't about to get into even more trouble with the Scouting Regiment than he already was in.

Lucas had found out what he had done to sabotage Eren on his first day with the aptitude training, telling him as politely as possible to not interfere in Eren's training again unless he wanted to be Court Martialed for sabotaging working gear under the pretences that he was trying to get a perfectly capable soldier out of training.

Later that day it was time for combat training, and Eren was currently paired up with Reiner, the blonde powerhouse of the 104th.

With a loud battle cry, Reiner charged at Eren with the wooden knife, but Eren managed to use the momentum to flip him over, leaving Reiner on his back and groaning in pain.

"Sorry man." Eren apologised to him, lending him a hand to help him back up. "I've really gotta learn how to hold back."

"Eh, it's alright." Reiner accepted the hand and pulled himself to his feet. "Let's see how you do as the rogue." He offered Eren the wooden knife. "What're you waiting on?"

"This training doesn't make sense." Eren complained as he took the knife. "We're not exactly picking fights with someone our own size. A guy would have to be stupid to use this. I mean, a knife?"

"What if there's not an option?" Reiner posed the question. "A fight doesn't give us a say, if it wants to get ugly, it gets ugly. It's our job to be prepared. The enemy comes in many forms, artillery's not always gonna be the answer." He explained. "Soldiers... the ones worth their salt anyway, are ready for anything." Reiner's gaze shifted across the training fields. "Don't believe me, look."

The two of them set their eyes on Annie, who instead of training, was doing an exemplary job on keeping away from the Instructors, or at least she thought she was.

"Yeah, what about her?" Eren asked as he and Reiner watched her walking across the field. "Only thing she's ready for is any chance to slack off."

"You think so?" Reiner leaned down to Eren's level. "Maybe somebody ought to give her a talking to. Give her a little... hard knocks lesson in preparedness."

Annie continued walking forward until she saw someone was in her path, looking up to see it was Reiner standing in her way.

"Commandant not beatin' you down enough?" He tried to get under her skin. "Keep it up and you'll be as flat as the dirt you're walking on. I suggest you think back to why you enlisted in the first place."

"Uh, what are you doing?" Eren asked as he walked up to him, but then he got a look at Annie's face, and he wanted to run for the hills. " _Woah, she's pissed, and I thought she looked scary before. You couldn't pay me enough to get on her bad side._ " He thought to himself.

"Okay." Reiner set his hands on Eren's shoulders, pushing him towards her. "Now go get her."

"What the hell? Wait!" Eren protested, but seeing Annie take up a stance he knew he wasn't getting out of it. "Right, I hope you don't expect me to hold back. Heads up!" He rushed towards her, but what he didn't expect was her to kick out a leg and hit his shin, tripping him up to the floor.

"Son of a... that was a dirty move." Eren complained, trying to stand up, but the pain proved too much for him.

"Are we done here?" Annie asked Reiner.

"Not just yet." Reiner responded. "You know the drill, take up the dagger."

Annie sighed out in annoyance, pissed off that Reiner dragged her into this.

"No wait, this isn't how-" He saw Annie moving quickly towards him again, knowing that it wasn't a good sign. "Oh crap!" Was the only thing that was said before Annie kicked the back of his legs out, leaving him on his back and his legs in the air, the wooden dagger now in her hand.

"There." Annie tossed the dagger back to Reiner, moving her bangs out of her eyes and behind her ear. "So you ready to take me on yourself or what?"

"Uhh... not exactly." Reiner really didn't want to do that, he knew what she was capable of, and he knew she would kick his ass.

"Don't you dare." Eren warned him, still on his back on the ground, annoyed that Reiner was trying to get out of it. "She's got a lesson coming right? You go get her."

"Yeah, a soldier can't afford to back down either." Reiner accepted the inevitable. "Get ready, here I-"

He didn't even get to finish before Annie pulled off the same move she had used on Eren, leaving him in the exact same position.

"That's some technique you've got." Eren commented. "Who taught you how to fight like that?"

"...My father did." Annie replied.

"Did he like, pioneer it, or-"

"Does it really matter?" She interrupted him from speaking. "It's pointless. Just like all this."

"Wait, you mean the training in general?" Eren asked her.

"Hand to hand combat doesn't really count against our final grade." She explained. "The smart ones blow it off. It's a crapshoot anyway, only the top ten cadets get to serve in the interior. The rest of us, forget it. The point is, only idiots like you take this part of boot camp seriously."

Her gaze went across the field to where Connie and Sasha were, and she didn't know what they were doing, just watching Shadis pick Connie up by the head. "Idiots, and whatever they are."

Swiftly, Annie pointed the dagger at Eren, who barely managed to stop her from stabbing him in the chest with it. "First rule of this life kid, the better you are at dropping the bad guys the more distance the powers that be put between you." She explained to him. "That's what this whole stupid farce is about."

"Sure, whatever you say!" Eren tried to pull her hand down from his chest, but it only resulted in Annie sweeping his legs and him hitting the floor again, this time she was straddling his chest as he barely kept thr dagger away from his throat.

"Face it. You don't fight the nature of things and win." Annie remained silent for a few seconds before sighing and standing back up. "Look around you Eren. All the sons of bitches really expect us to do is play their game. Don't be a pawn." It was a strange warning, but she wasn't wrong.

Eren was so entangled in his own thoughts about what Annie had said that he didn't see Shadis stalking towards the centre of the training field, a scowl across his face.

"Attention!" He yelled out, getting the attention of every cadet on the field. "It has come to my attention that some of you find this particular part of training to be pointless. So I thought we would mix it up a bit. Everybody form a circle around me. No gaps!"

The cadets were a little confused but did as they were told, lining up shoulder to shoulder in a circle around Shadis.

"Cadet Leonhart, step forward." Annie stepped forward once her name was called. "You seemed to have irked the ire of some of your comrades Cadet. I believe the words you used were, 'farce' and 'crapshoot.'"

Annie instantly shot a glare straight at Reiner, who looked on surprised at that, shrugging as if he didn't know anything about it.

"Anything to say... Cadet?" Shadis pressed on.

"No Sir."

"Luck you didn't, otherwise you would've been in a much worse position." Shadis warned her. "As punishment for finding my training methods to be not worth your precious time, I'm going to have Captain Ackerman show you why they aren't a waste of time."

"You're making me fight the Captain as punishment?" Annie asked him. "Sir." She added in right at the end.

"A fight doesn't allow you to choose you opponent Cadet Leonhart." Shadis explained to her. "You will spar with the Captain until I say stop or until he breaks you in half."

"And if I beat him?"

"Don't make me laugh." Shadis actually smiled a little at her confidence. "You don't stand a chance, that's why I'm smiling."

"And if I beat him?" She repeated the question.

"If you beat him you can slack off from combat training as much as you like since you find it so pointless." Shadis told her. "You will take the dagger, all you have to do is touch Captain Ackerman with it and you win."

Shadis handed Annie the dagger and stood back, letting the two of them face off in the middle of the circle of Cadets. Annie looked as serious as she could be, taking up her stance with her posture very stiff. Lucas was the complete opposite of her, hands on his hips and looking very relaxed and as uninterested as he could possibly be.

Annie was really pissed off now, someone had ratted her out to Shadis, and she wasn't sure that it was Reiner. Though now she had the chance to blow off some steam by sparring with the Captain.

She knew that he would be no joke, and it wasn't a secret that he was Mikasa's older brother, so if she was like a mutant, then there was no way she could out strength him. So she would have to play this smart, all she had to do was touch him with the dagger, Shadis didn't say with what end though, so hopefully she could outsmart him.

"Begin!" Shadis yelled out.

Waiting to see if he would do anything, Annie stayed completely still waiting for him to make the first move.

"Are you going to do anything, or are you just going to stand there?" Lucas asked. "...Midget." He added in to really annoy her.

Her eye twitched ever so slightly, she didn't like how small she was, and whenever someone called her short she made sure they would never do it again, but she didn't think that she could beat him in a fight.

"Tch, if you aren't going to move then you aren't going to get anywhere." Lucas spoke up. "I'm literally standing here as unprepared as possible, what more could you possibly need to attack me? Unless... you're scared?"

Annie silently grit her teeth, she was smart enough to realise that he was baiting her, but even if he was faster than Mikasa, she was fast too, and maybe she could land the hit she needed.

Quick as a flash, Annie shot forward towards him, dagger in hand and pointed straight at his chest. Though right as she was within striking distance of him he set into action, turning his body away from the dagger faster than she could react to, with Annie ending up being tripped like what she had done to Eren.

"You're toying with me." Annie spoke up as she regained her footing. "You were watching the entire time, what's the point in this if you know what I'm going to do?"

"The point is that you decided to slack off Leonhart." Lucas answered her, adjusting his Scout jacket ever so slightly. "Whether or not you think this is pointless is irrelevant. You signed up to become a soldier, and since you want to join the MP's, hand to hand combat is essential. Now, come at me again."

" _Asshole._ " Annie thought to herself, sighing aloud as she allowed herself to be swept along with the flow. She didn't stand a chance against him, she never did. He was just like Mikasa, only a stronger, better, more refined version of her.

It didn't bother her that she got her ass handed to her on a silver platter. While it might have damaged her reputation a little, nobody would mock her about it considering that he was undoubtedly 'Humanities Strongest Soldier.'

"Let this serve as a lesson, and a warning to you all." Shadis spoke up once Annie had gotten back to her feet after being embarrassed by Lucas. "Anyone caught slacking off in hand to hand combat training will spar with Captain Ackerman as punishment. Is that clear!"

"Sir, yes Sir!" The Cadets all answered back, with mutterings and whispers going on for the rest of the day because of what had just happened.

Later that night at dinner, Eren was sitting with Mikasa and Armin. Armin was trying to explain something about the gear to Eren, but his mind was focusing on what Jean was saying across from him.

"Just for a second. That's how you save fuel. Just let the momentum do the work for you." He could hear Jean talking from the other table.

"Still, that's pretty advanced." The guy sitting across from him pointed out.

"Duh, it's called having a sixth sense for the finer points of your gear." Jean bragged, glancing to the table next to his, looking at Mikasa. "You gotta do the strut if you wanna make the cut. The MP only recruit the best."

"Man that'd be amazing." Marco spoke up. "Working within a stones throw of the King, no greater honour that that."

"Shut up Marco." Jean slapped his best friend on the back of his head, leaning right into his face. "We're not children, you can drop the misty eyed BS. Honour doesn't have any damn part of it, you just want a nice cushy job in the interior playing glorified sentry."

"That's not true!" Marco shot back at him. "That's not me at all."

"Listen to you guys." Eren interrupted their conversation. "Interior? Five years ago this was part of it."

"You got a point to make friend?" Jean asked him, irritated that he had to talk to Eren. "I'm right here."

"Poor Jean, so misguided, and besides, I don't think your head will fit in the interior anyway." Jean's eye twitched at that joke, some others giggling a bit.

"Very funny." Jean hissed, seeing that there were others laughing at him.

"Seems backwards to me, fine tuning your Titan killing skills so the brass will station you somewhere you'll never see one." Eren pointed out.

"You'd rather I was good at getting killed?" Jean retorted. "No thanks, I'll pass. Better to play the system than get gnawed on."

"You son of a bitch!" Eren stood up from his seat.

"Bring it on you little bastard!" Jean got up as well, squaring off with the shorter brunette as Eren grabbed his shirt.

"Gentleman please." Mikasa stood up to defuse the situation, taking Eren's hand into her own and bringing it down. Eren glared at her for a second, but eventually relented.

"You think you can judge me?!" Jean shouted as he grabbed Eren's shirt.

"Huh?! You rip my shirt and you're dead!" Eren threatened her.

"I don't give a damn about your shirt!" Jean yelled back. "You piss me off!"

"What?! Are you crazy?!"

Everyone was watching the scene unfold, even Mikasa gave up on trying to calm Eren down, and it seemed like they were right to do so as Eren sweeped Jean's legs out from under him, sending him crashing to the floor with a loud thud.

"Damnit." Jean rubbed the back of his head as he sat up. "What the hell was that move?" He demanded to know.

"Little something I picked up this afternoon while you were busy with your thumb up your ass." Eren glared hard at him. "You honestly believe the Military Police are the ticket to the good life? You're not a soldier... you're a joke."

The room went dead silent at that, the crickets outside making enough noise to be heard, that was until the door creaked open, with Lucas opening the door all the way.

"Would someone like to explain what that loud noise was?" He asked. "I'm not in the mood to deal with this, so just own up so you can run laps."

Eren and Jean both sat down at the table. No one daring to say a single word.

Mikasa suddenly raised her hand and spoke. "Sasha passed some gas Captain."

Sasha looked mortified at Mikasa's lies about her, while everyone else was trying their hardest not to laugh.

"A believable lie if there ever was one." He didn't sound pleased at all. "Eren, Jean, ten laps around the camp for fighting." He waited until they left before speaking up. "Leonhart, fifteen laps for teaching the idiot how to fight properly."

Annie was convinced that he was doing this specifically because she was spying on him now. Although there was nothing she could do about it, if she spoke up or complained it could be seen as insubordination, which could result in her expulsion from the 104th, and she needed to get into the MP's, so she just went along with it and did as she was told.

"As for the rest of you, nobody here aside from Mikasa actually tried to stop Eren and Jean from fighting." He said, essentially revealing he had seen the whole thing. "You are supposed to be comrades, not bystanders. The only other commendable one here is Blouse because she didn't try and rat Mikasa out."

The majority of teenagers in the room looked down, knowing that he was right, they didn't do anything to help them, which meant that they would most likely be punished as well.

"Luckily for you all, I'm in a semi-decent mood right now. So I'll let you off." A few of the Cadets let out a sigh of relief at that. "But, if anything like that happens again and I find out, I'll tell Shadis, and he hates it when soldiers don't behave properly."

Right before he left the room he saw Sasha being compensated by Mikasa with a loaf of bread being stuffed into her mouth.

"Goddamn teenagers." He muttered to himself.

(Wall Sina, October, 849)

In all his life, Lucas never thought that he, the best soldier the Scouts had ever had, would be rubbing the feet of a woman with a large belly because they were 'sore.'

Of course without context that sounds very strange, but the woman was eight months pregnant with his child, and she was his wife, a very needy wife when it came to pregnancy.

"Keep rubbing them Lucas, they still hurt." Frieda complained, feet dangling off the bed they shared, a hand on her large, round belly, unable to feel any kicks though.

"I'm not your servant you know." He reminded her, but continued on with the foot massage. "You're lucky I feel so bad about knocking you up again, otherwise I wouldn't be so enthusiastic about rubbing your feet."

"Don't say it like it was unexpected!" She hit the top of his head, though it didn't hurt at all, he was more annoyed about her messing up his hair. "We are both consenting adults, and we agreed to try for children before we made love."

"I'd like to point out that you mentioned it about ten seconds before I penetrated you." He reminded her. "It wasn't a planned thing for me at all, I was coerced into it by a seductress with a succubus like sex drive."

"I see you've been reading those supernatural books in the library." Of course that was what she took out of that. "You usually only use those books to stuff into backpacks and force me to run while wearing them."

"What about the time you sat on my back and made me do one handed push ups because you didn't think I could do it?"

"Are you saying that I'm fat?"

"Right now you are."

"I didn't force you to impregnate me." She crossed her arms and looked away from him. "That was your decision, you could have easily forced me off if you didn't want to."

"Frieda, that's not what I meant..."

"Then what exactly did you mean?" She glared at him.

"I-I'm sorry for saying that." He apologised meekly. "I don't want you to stay mad at me." He admitted.

"Why not?"

"Because I-" He stopped himself once he caught a flash of a smile on her face. "You are the worst, I thought you were genuinely angry at me."

"But I wanted you to say it... please." She pleaded. "For me."

"I..." He glanced at her, looking away from her gaze, instead sitting next to her on the bed and hugging her, making sure not to hurt her. "I love you, okay, there, I said it."

Frieda smiled and kissed his cheek, taking his hand and placing it onto her pregnant stomach.

"It's going to be a girl." She told him. "I can feel it."

He previously said that he wanted a boy, but truthfully, he didn't care, as long as the baby was healthy, that was all that mattered.

Plus, he didn't have to think of names for the baby, it was Frieda's turn to do that.


	19. Baiting Out The Enemy

(Year 850, 4 weeks until graduation)

The past few months had been pretty hectic for Lucas. In November Frieda had given birth to their second daughter, naming her Rosemary Ackerman, with Frieda citing the reason that Misako took her last name so Rosemary should be given his last name.

Of course along with the birth of a new child came many sleepless nights, having to wake up multiple times to put her back to sleep. Honestly it was just like dealing with Misako, only that she had a different name.

There wasn't a lot of things Lucas Ackerman found to be cute or adorable, but his two children definitely were. They had the same raven black hair, and while Rosemary's eyes were brighter than Misako's, that was no doubt because of Frieda pumping him full of her eye genes.

Their children were basically miniature versions of them, though they were both girls, both of them had the blood required to be special. Though Lucas only knew of their Ackerman and Royal blood, Frieda knew a little bit more than him.

She knew that their children were also descendants of the Azumabito Family, which was the equivalent of the Royal Family in the nation of Hizuru. He had every right to know about his heritage, but she couldn't tell him for fear it would endanger their relationship or that he would do something stupid with that information.

Other than that and the hundreds of other secrets that she had to keep from him, life was great. He was always there and supportive, both of their children absolutely loved him, they would sometimes cry when he handed them to her or anyone else.

It did annoy her a little that they prefered their father, but she didn't hold a grudge, she was just happy that they all loved each other, and hopefully they would do so until they couldn't anymore.

(104th Cadet Corps Training Camp)

While most Cadets would think that training is the only thing required to become a soldier, it's actually quite different. A lot of work was done in the classroom, learning about how the gear worked, learning different tactics and strategies for battle and other things like that.

Though the last of the exams had finished last week, so it was a bit of a surprise that Shadis had cancelled afternoon training and gathered them all up into the lecture theatre, rows upon rows of confused cadets sitting down.

"Attention all!" Shadis spoke up from the front of the class. "I know you're all wondering why you have to set foot in this building again, but this is a lesson that you'll want to remember." He gestured to the side where Lucas was leaning on the wall. "Captain Ackerman has decided to give you all an important lesson on Special Type Titans, namely the Collossal and Armoured Titans."

The whole class broke out into murmurs and whispers, which made Shadis more than a little annoyed that they started talking while he was in the middle of something.

"Quiet!" He yelled, shutting them all up. "Now, as I was saying, this lesson is to teach you all about how to stop the Colossal and Armoured Titans should you be in the area when they reappear." Shadis then gestured towards Lucas. "The floor is yours Captain."

"Thanks." He replied, waiting for Shadis to exit the room before speaking. "The Colossal and Armoured Titans, humanities greatest enemies yet." He began. "My job as of now is to teach you all how to deal with the threat if they were to reappear at one of the outlier districts."

Immediately a hand shot up into the air, and to no surprise it was Eren that did so. "Yes Eren?"

"Are you gonna teach us how to kill those bastards?" He asked, a fire lit deep within his eyes. "Surely you know how to."

"If you shut up and don't interrupt I might be able to explain it." Lucas glared at him, which immediately got Eren to back down. "Now, as I was saying, the Colossal and Armoured Titans are our greatest enemy, people make out like they're unstoppable, but nothing is unstoppable, and I'm about to tell you why."

Lucas strode over to the side of the room, pulling along a portable blackboard that he had prepared beforehand, turning it around to show everybody what was on it.

"Let's start with the Colossal Titan." He pointed to a crudely drawn picture of a wall and a head poking over the top. "This Titan is about sixty metres tall and possesses the strength required to destroy the outer gate of an outlier district." He explained to them all.

"Now while there us very little known about it, one thing we can be sure of is that it can appear and reappear at will, making it a deadly force to be reckoned with." He continued on.

"Excuse me Sir." Marco raised his hand. "How is it possible that it can just appear and disappear at will? How does that even work?" He asked, a lot of cadets whispering their own concerns.

"How it works is beyond me Marco, but what I can tell you is that we would have noticed a sixty metre Titan lumbering around outside Wall Maria." He explained. "Contrary to popular belief, the Scouts aren't idiots, there has never been any indication of Titans over fifteen metres tall before. The fact that it appeared and disappeared so quickly should be the main concern."

"Without an actual view I can't tell you what it actually looks like, the only thing ever spotted was the head." Lucas continued on, pointing to the head on the board. "The only thing I can guarantee though is that it is slow. Something that big cannot move fast, it is not physically possible, so even people like Armin should be able to out manoeuvre it as long as you don't make any mistakes."

"If it was that easy then why haven't you killed it yet?" Jean spoke up, his arrogance getting the better of him. "Weren't you there when it first appeared anyway?"

"Because Jean, my focus was on pulling a mother out from under a building so her child didn't have to grow up without her." He glared back at him, Jean shrivelling up at the stare. "If you would like to make any more sarcastic comments, please save it until the end, this information could end up saving your life. Am I understood?"

"Y-Yes Sir." Jean gulped.

"Good, now as I was saying before I was so rudely interrupted, it is a general agreemet within the Scouts that the Colossal Titan has the same muscle structure as normal Titan, that means if you can cut deep enough, you can cut through the tendons." He explained to them. "I would suggest behind the knee or the heel, if it can't stand it can't kick the wall open."

"Though I wouldn't fault any of you if you weren't able to damage it in time." He added in. "I'm well aware of the fact that many of you are terrified by the Titans, and while legally I'm not supposed to encourage you to join a specific Regiment, I'll tell you Commander Pixis is a lot more lenient with deserters."

"I'm sure you're all aware that the Colossal Titan possesses at least a little intelligence, and since it is able to appear and disappear at will, don't be shocked if it appears when you don't expect it." He warned them. "From the information we gathered, flocks of birds were startled, the wind died down and there was a large explosion directly before it appeared. This is likely because the energy needed to build a body like that out of thin air would be astronomical, if you're genuinely interested in learning more about that, I can direct you to Section Commander Hange Zoe, she is our resident Titan and Science expert in the Scouts."

"Before we move on, is there any questions that you have about the Colossal Titan?" Lucas gave them the room to ask questions.

"I do." Reiner raised his hand. "How is it that you've figured out all this information? It just seems to me that a lot of it is guesswork and assuming details you don't know."

"That's because the majority of reasearch on the Colossal Titan is just guesswork and assumptions." Lucas confirmed for the burly blonde. "We haven't assumed anything that isn't physically impossible, but a lot of it is down to just guesswork, we just don't have a lot to go on for now."

"I have a few questions Captain." Armin was next to raise his hand. "First of all, how would we counter the appearance of the Colossal Titan, secondly, are there any plans put into place in event that it does reappear, and lastly, what would happen if the outer wall was breached, but not the inner wall?"

"I'm not sure there is a way to counteract the appearance of the Colossal Titan at this moment in time Armin, I'm afraid that anyone on top of the wall will either have to just jump off and save yourself or fire the cannons instantly and hope you hit it's eyes." He replied honestly. "I know I talked about cutting deep enough earlier, but with the am of muscle needed to support a body that big, it won't be possible to cut deep enough quickly enough without maybe fifty people all cutting at once."

"For the second question, there are a few plans put into place by the Scouts." He explained. "The Garrison originally wanted to just delay any possible invasion until civilians could be evacuated, but after bringing forward some alternatives to Premier Zackly, there are some decent plans in place."

"Firstly, if the Scout Regiment are on an expedition, a column of purple flares are to be fired during the initial invasion, alerting the rear column of the Scouts and giving us the information that Trost is under attack." Armin was the only one taking notes, which was quite impressive considering all the exams had finished.

"Next is the defensive stage of the invasion, the advance squad is to delay the Titans as long as they can, allowing soldiers to take up defensive positions around the breach, which in turn will theoretically allow them to funnel the Titans into a trap, though I wouldn't expect that to work for very long."

"I'll explain the third stage later as it ties in to the Armoured Titan." He informed him. "As for your last question, if Titans do invade the city but don't get into Wall Rose, every cannon in the vicinity will be turned downwards and firing will not stop until every Titan is dead, this will make retaking the city far easier."

"Hopefully that answers your questions Armin, anyone else?" He asked, but nobody spoke up. "Alright then, before we get to the Armoured Titan I want to tell you all something important."

On the board there was a chalk drawing of the three walls with a lot of stick figures on the outside. "Forgive my shitty drawing skills, but this is important. As you all know the outlier districts are used to attract the majority of the Titans as it makes patrolling the Wall easier, but five years ago the Titans poured into the city in their hundreds." He revealed.

"This isn't normal by any standards, there were enough Titans to overrun the city in minutes, there should never have been that much Titans there that day." He explained. "That means, something else, an outside force if you will led the Titans to the city."

"Wouldn't it have been the Colossal Titan though Sir?" Armin spoke up to ask. "Surely a Titan that large was what attracted the rest of them."

"That would be the case if they didn't invade the city instantly Armin." Lucas corrected him. "However, since they did, the only logical conclusion is that something rounded them up." He circled the stick Titans outside the wall. "And led them here in time for the Colossal to kick down the wall." He finished it off with an arrow to the outer wall. "While we have no idea what could have led the Titans to the city, it is a strong possibility that it was another Special Type Titan, because at this point it would be stupid and ignorant to assume the Colossal and Armoured Titans are the only ones."

"But Captain, if what you're saying is anywhere near the truth, that means that the attack five years ago was a coordinated effort." Armin pointed out. "The Titans have no intelligence, there's no way they could pull that off."

"I understand why you think that way Armin, but we know little to nothing about the Titans. The only thing we do know is that their weak spot is in the nape and their body structure is similar to that of humans." He explained to the boy. "The science behind the Titans is basically unknown, so while the majority of them may have no intelligence aside from the need to eat humans, it's entirely possible that intelligent Titans exist and can coordinate attacks with each other."

"What about the Armoured Titan Sir?" Surprisingly it was Mikasa who spoke up, her voice completely neutral as she did. "How do we stop it?"

"I'm just getting to that, but first I'm going to explain what the Armoured Titan is." He started off with. "Contrary to what Eren decided to tell you all at dinner about it looking like a regular Titan, it is most definitely not a normal Titan. A normal Titan can not break through the Inner Gate of the outler districts, and that is what makes the Armoured Titan such a big threat."

"The Armoured Titan possesses armour plating like a second skin, it covers the majority of his body from head to toe. Our current information taken from eyewitness tells us that cannon fire has no effect on him. In fact, he shrugged off the cannon balls like they were nothing."

The majority of the class paled at that, cannons were the most effective and reliable weapon against Titans.

"However, just because our shitty rusty cannons can't damage him doesn't mean he can't be stopped." Lucas spoke up once again before anyone started to panic. "I cannot say this part enough, the Armoured Titan does have weaknesses, and I'm about to tell you them."

The majority of the class sat up and began to listen attentively, eager to learn about what weaknesses one of their greatest enemies had.

"First lets talk about his armour, while it probably is impenetrable with the current weapons we possess, that doesn't mean there isn't a way around it." He pointed to his own leg, specifically behind the knee. "All of his joints need to be exposed in order for him to move, it isn't physically possible to move with hard armour protecting the joints, so the back of the knee, the ankle, armpits, elbows, and any other joint that requires any kind of movement."

"But how would anyone pull that off Captain?" Armin questioned. "You'd need a lot of soldiers around him to try and pull that off."

"That's exactly right Armin. The idea is that if soldiers can swarm around him, one will eventually slice a nerve, which would make him an easier target to stop."

"I see." Armin scribbled it down. "So how else would we stop him.

"In the event that the outer wall is breached and the Armoured Titan appears before the citizens are evacuated, the Inner Gate will be shut immediately, it doesn't matter who is going through it, the gate will be shut no matter if people are squashed by it. It is their responsibility to get out of the way." Lucas explained. "However, once that happens, gas powered lifts will help bring the remaining citizens to the top of the wall in case anybody was wondering."

"As for the other method to stop him." He used the chalk in his hand to draw a rather crude drawing of the wall, the main street and a stick Armoured Titan. "If he appears, all soldiers are to abandon their posts and lead all Titans in the district to the main street." He circled the end of the street next to the wall. "A defensive perimeter will be set up around the civilians to ensure as much of them make it over the wall as possible."

"How would leading the Titans to the main street do anything?" Eren raised his voice. "They won't attack him, so what's the point?"

"It's simple physics Eren, the Armoured Titan can sprint down an empty street no problem, but he can't do anything with Titans flooding the main street." Lucas explained to the brown haired teen. "The layout of the city is very beneficial to us in this situation, because there is only one street leading to the gate, that means he can only build up speed by using that street. Without a clear path, he should be stopped completely without a free run at the gate."

"Does anyone have any questions they would like to ask?" He added in. "Don't be afraid to, I won't actually bite."

Sasha was the first to raise her hand. "Does this mean we get the rest of the day off Sir?"

"I'm very tempted to say no for that question Blouse, but yes, you'll have the rest of the day off." He sighed, of course Sasha asked that question. "Any actual questions relating to this?"

As it turns out, many of the cadets had thought that it was okay to tune out during the lesson, meaning that instead of answering questions about it, he gave the entire lesson once again, and while he was slightly irritated that he had to, it was essential for them to know this, that and he was hoping for a knee-jerk reaction from Annie, that way he could go to Erwin without compromising Frieda's safety.

Once everyone had left the classroom, Lucas was wiping down the chalkboard, making sure it was clean before he left.

"You're very good at giving talks." A female voice told him. "I can see why you're a Captain, you know how to keep people's attention and how to grab some."

"Cadet Leonhart." He turned around to see Annie standing there on her own. "Is there something I can do for you?"

"I wanted to ask about something..." She trailed off. "You've said all this stuff about stopping the Armoured Titan, but would it really work in a crisis? Humans are unpredictable creatures, they typically only care about their own life."

"To be honest, I have no idea if any of it will work." He admitted to her. "It all depends on if everyone does their job properly, you would be hard pressed to find a Garrison soldier who would drop the gate on civilians, or find people willing to be used as bait to lure Titans somewhere else."

"So why spend the time coming up with all those plans and precautions if there's a big chance that it won't work?" Annie asked, leaning back against one of the desks. "Surely your time would be better put to use somewhere else."

"That's not the point though, the plans will work if followed correctly." He informed her. "As hard as it may be, I'll put my trust in the Garrison to stick to the emergency protocols."

"Why did you join the Scouts?" Annie asked once he finished talking. "You obviously have the skill to join the MP's, you could live in the very centre with your title, so why don't you?"

"Because on my first day I told the Instructor I would join the Scouts." He revealed to her. "I wasn't going to go back on my word, no matter how stupid it was."

"That does seem very stupid, giving up on a safe life in the interior for the most dangerous job you could possibly get." Annie agreed with him. "I don't get people like you, ones able to go against the natural order of things, but you seem to have taken that to a whole new level."

"I'm not quite sure I understand what you're trying to say." Lucas hardened his gaze a little. "Perhaps you should elaborate some more."

"It took less than thirty minutes for the Armoured Titan to appear from what I've heard." Annie told him. "It could happen even quicker if there is a next time, there's no way there will be time for any of those plans to work effectively."

"Maybe if you weren't so pessimistic you might have a little hope." He shot back.

"Maybe..." She looked away, out of the window to be precise. "You're leaving tomorrow right?" He confirmed that he was for her. "I hope you have a safe trip back... Captain."

That was the last thing Annie said before she left the classroom, and now there was no doubt in his mind that she was threatening him. So he would have to alter his route back to the Scouts HQ, it would only be a little detour, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

(The next day, 10pm)

The sun had set an hour ago, but the moon was out, and it was illuminating the the entire area of land that Lucas could see. He was on his horse, trotting away towards the Scout HQ in Wall Rose, though his ODM gear was active and he had one handle in his hand. He was prepared for the worst to happen tonight.

The night was silent, the only sound was was the hooves of his horse hitting the ground, the occasional breath of his horse and the slight jingle whenever his blade box hit something else.

He was expecting the Armoured Titan to ambush him to be honest, that's why he had altered his route, always making sure that there was either a forest or a village nearby. He might have been the strongest soldier in the walls, but he wasn't cocky. He knew he couldn't fight him out in the open.

At least with a village he could fight back, though the dead civilians would be a problem, it was better than being caught out in the open.

About five minutes later it happened, a blinding light and an explosion about three hundred metres away on the plains. It was easy to see because of the moonlight, and surprisingly it wasn't the Armoured Titan, instead it looked very much female.

It was about fourteen metres tall, covered in lean muscle, it had no skin like the Colossal Titan, only exposed muscle. She was also running towards him, not how a regular Titan would, how a human would run.

Spurring his horse into a sprint, changing direction to head for the forest to the south, he looked back to see the Female Titan gaining on him. He could see the blonde hair now, and the womanly figure was a dead giveaway. Annie had come to kill him, but he wasn't about to hand himself to her.

He was nearing the forest, urging his horse forward at top speed, keeping a fair distance between him and the Female Titan, urging his horse to go faster as he drew both handles and activated his ODM gear.

"Get outta here!" He turned his horse and slapped it's rear, jumping off and shooting his hooks towards the forest, swinging into the dark forest and out of sight.

Annie watched him disappear into the forest, slowing down to a jog as she came up to the dense forest. She should probably go after his horse, but it didn't look like it was stopping anytime soon, and she was going to kill him, so it didn't matter anyway.

Entering the forest slowly, pushing the intitial tree line aside so she could squeeze through, branches breaking and cracking as her giant body went through them, her eyes were peeled for any kind of movement in the air or any glint of light.

That was the advantage she had here, while she couldn't smell him, she had far superior eyesight in a dark forest, and while he may have been a mutant like his sister Mikasa, he didn't have night vision.

Her ears were picking up slight noises as well, but most of it was drowned out by her steps, trying to walk as lightly as possible. The ODM gear made a very distinctive noise while in use, and after using it for three years, she was very familiar with it.

Pushing deeper into the forest only evened out the sides, but she had to do it, he was smart, there was no way he would engage her at the edge of the forest, he would want to be able to circle her, not be confined to a certain space.

Annie had a few trump cards up her sleeve, the ability to heal specific body parts faster and her hardening ability. Unless he had seen her memories there was no way that he knew about those, but seeing as it was a big possibility that he knew more about the Titans than anyone else did, she wasn't entirely sure what to think.

She trekked deeper into the forest, being able to visually pick out holes in some trees where the grappling hooks sunk in. She was also able to smell the faint remains of gas that had been used in the air, she was getting close to him, she could feel it.

Prying two trees apart so she could squeeze through, leaving both tree trunks cracked and leaning to the side, and attached to a tree about forty feet in front of her was her target.

"I must say I was expecting the Armoured Titan to show up." He spoke up, Annie able to hear him clearly. "I'm not sure if you're being stupid or if you're just very arrogant, I wouldn't be able to kill the Armoured Titan, not with the armour on his nape, but you on the other hand, you're just flesh on the outside."

Annie only responded by lifting her fists up, differently to how she normally would, especially since she had fought him before. It was unlikely that he knew for certain that it was her, but she didn't need to be giving him obvious clues as to her identity.

Lucas responded to her actions by drawing a pair of blades, holding them how he usually would. "I can't wait to find out who's hiding in there." He held the sword up to his face, the blade glinting in the moonlight that was peering through the tree canopy. "I'm gonna show you why the Titans should fear me."

Immediately Annie took a step backwards as he jumped off the tree and began circling her. She was in the middle of a lot of trees, and she was constantly having to turn to keep her eyes on him. It was obvious what he was doing, he was scanning her for any weaknesses, and he wouldn't take long, because he only had a certain amount of gas in his gear.

It was only a few more seconds before he made his move, changing direction almost instantly, flying straight towards her. His speed was unreal, and Annie panicked, throwing her fist at him erratically.

Lucas on the other hand easily dodged under the giant fist, grappling to the underside of her arm and swinging himself up towards her eyes, spinning in place and cutting through both eyes and her nose, pushing himself up and over her head and jumped away, beginning to circle her again.

" _That would've been the easiest chance to cut her out of there, but that's what she would expect._ " He thought to himself, proven right as her hand instantly covered her nape, keeping her back to a tree to keep herself upright. " _I have maybe a minute before her eyes heal. I'll cut her up some more before that can happen._ "

Changing direction once again to fly towards the Female Titan, he set about cutting her arms up first, under the armpits where her arms were held up came first, followed by the shoulder and then the elbow joints on each arm.

Clean and precise cuts were the only thing he did, carving his way through her flesh like a hot knife through butter, making quick and easy work of her arms, causing them to fall limp to her side.

" _Now her arms are out the way, I have about thirty seconds to cut her neck and get to her nape._ " He surmised, attaching a brand new set of blades to his handles. " _I expected a little more from her to be honest._ "

Attaching a hook to her neck, he prepared himself to swipe at her neck, hesitating for a second as he noticed that only one of her eyes were steaming, the other looked just as bad as it was before.

"Shit!" He realised what she was doing right as her eye snapped open, jaw opening and teeth bared, ready to snap him in half. He reacted quickly and hit the gas release, propelling him upwards just the smallest bit, avoiding being bitten in half, but his right leg jarred against her upper lip, unprepared for that kind of impact.

"Fuck!" He cried out, pain shooting throughout his right leg as he propelled himself upwards, looking back to see the Female Titan running at him, swinging her left leg at him at a ferocious pace, only managing to dodge by the skin of his teeth.

He watched back as her leg went straight through multiple trees, her shin shining a bright blue, it looked like it was covered in crystal.

"You've gotta be shitting me." He grumbled, quickly getting over the pain in his leg and straight at her.

Instead of punching him, she swiped her now healed arms at him, somehow missing him as he weaved between her arms, going between her legs and up her back at a lightning speed, his swords reflecting the moonlight as he slashed upwards at her nape.

"What the fuck?" He spoke aloud, his eyes abnormally wide as he saw both of his blades break like a twig on her nape, that crystal like substance suddenly appearing on her neck.

Swinging away to a tree to assess his situation, he was given no time to think as the Female Titan had thrown tree branched at him, a particularly large one catching his right leg, a lot more pain rising through his shin.

A bright blue fist followed closely behind the branches, Lucas barely detaching himself from the tree before her fist went through it, obliterating the area she had hit.

" _This is bad._ " He thought, his leg was probably broken at some part, the pain was actually becoming unbearable, so he did the one thing he had never done before, he turned tail and ran.

He sped through the forest, but the Female Titan was hot on his heels, bulldozing her way through the trees and anything else that stood in her path. While the forest was dense, it was nowhere near dense enough to lose her by turning left and right, he needed her attention off of him, just for a second, but that was all he needed.

Looking back he could see the look in her eyes, she was enjoying this, him running away like a mouse from a cat, though he would probably die a very painful death if she caught him.

Annie was right on his heels, truthfully she could go faster, but she was enjoying herself a little too much. The thrill of being the hunter was great, especially after he was so confident, but now he was running from her, it was too good to be true in a sense.

She just wished her Titan form had vocal chords to talk, she could scream, but talking wasn't possible, that would have made this even more entertaining for her.

He kept glancing back to her, he was up to something, she could see it in his eyes from here, the desperation to get away from her was overwhelming him, he was going to make a mistake, and she would pounce when he did.

He turned around sharply and threw his blades at her, but Annie was ready, a hand flying up to stop them, swords embedded in her giant palm, but she could still see, but in the half a second or so she couldn't see him he had vanished from her sight.

Stopping herself instantly, she skidded along the dirt, creating large marks in the grass as she did. " _Where the fuck did he go?!_ " She seethed internally, plucking the swords out of her palm and dropping them to the dirt below.

She couldn't hear anything, and her nose couldn't pick up a scent without any wind, so she had to rely on some good old fashioned searching. She started by kicking trees down, looking in the canopy for a glint of metal, breaking trees and throwing them about like a little kid throwing a tantrum.

She was trying to get him to come out, but so far nothing was doing. In fact she believed that he had gotten away, the only positive she could take was that she had probably broken his leg.

" _That fucking bug._ " She cursed him. " _He'd be an idiot to come back to the Cadets, at least I'll get to spend the last few weeks in peace._ " Throwing one last punch in frustration, she stalked off from the area, leaving through the path of destruction she had created.

Though if Annie had searched a little more thoroughly, she would have spotted that numerous tree trunks had hollow bases, which made for an excellent hiding spot for Lucas. Though he didn't emerge until the next morning though, he was not risking anything.

The only thing was that his horse was gone with the wind, meaning he had to trek to the nearest village with a broken leg to borrow a horse, and that was fucking painful.

(The next day)

As it turned out his leg wasn't broken, it was only fractured, but it still hurt like a bitch. He couldn't walk without crutches, and his leg was swollen as well, so he was essentially stuck in bed in the infirmary until the swelling went down.

Though Erwin was concerned when he first got back, he didn't waste any time in giving him paperwork to do. " _Damn eyebrow asshole, couldn't give me the day off after that shit yesterday?_ "

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the infirmary door, with a ginger girl poking her head in. "Hello Captain, I brought you lunch since you couldn't come yourself." She held a tray in her hand, a bowl of soup, bread and a cooked potato there for him.

"Thank you Petra." He nodded at her. "You can leave it on the table there." He pointed at the bedside table next to him. "I'll eat it in a little bit."

"Are you doing paperwork?" Petra inquired as she set the tray down, Lucas humming and nodding in confirmation. "I could help you if you want." She offered.

"Are you sure?" He raised an eyebrow at her. "It's very boring, I wouldn't want Erwin to find a Scout having been bored to death by his paperwork."

"It's alright." Petra smiled at him. "Just tell me what to do."

He explained that she needed to look over the numbers to see that they were correct and put them into a pile for him to sign as he still needed to sign off on all the papers before they got back to Erwin.

"Is she pretty?" Petra suddenly asked out of nowhere, confusing him a little. "Sorry, I saw the ring on your finger." She explained. "Is she pretty, your wife I mean."

"Unfortunately for me she is." He snorted. "Saying she's pretty is an understatement, I know you haven't met her, and you probably won't, but if, and it's a big if, if you get chosen for my squad, there's a chance she might want to meet you."

"You aren't anything like I expected you to be Captain." Petra told him. "I expected you to be the sort that didn't take orders, and I'd heard rumors that you were particularly harsh on new recruits."

"I won't bore you with the details, but I was both of those things." He told her. "I used to be angrier than I am now, you can thank my wife for that, and dor the record, Corporal Short Stack was a lot worse than me when he joined."

Petra wanted to know more, but the door opened and Erwin walked in, followed by Hange, Mike and Levi.

"Cadet Ral, if you could please give us the room." Erwin requested, with Petra standing up and leaving, though not without saying a bye to Lucas.

"Making new friends are you?" Hange teased him.

"Do you know who it was?" Erwin instantly shut that down before it could begin, being completely serious.

"Here." Lucas handed him a file. "Everything I know about her is in there."

"Hmm." Erwin hummed as he scanned through it. "Annie Leonhart, from Wall Maria, five foot tall, Female Titan? Are you sure it's her."

"Positive."

 **A/N- Hello! I'm back with this story. After so long the Trost Arc will start next chapter. I tried to not make the fight too one sided, especially since I don't like characters that are blatantly OP.**

 **Hopefully I'll be able to stay motivated to write for this story. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed!**


	20. Left Behind in Trost

"What the fuck do you mean I'm being left behind tomorrow?" An exasperated Lucas asked Erwin, angry that he was being sidelined for what could be an extremely important expedition. "I am your best soldier, you can't just leave me behind to babysit the recruits in Trost tomorrow."

"Do I have to remind you that one of them tried to assassinate me?" Lucas continued on with. "And she will probably try again if she sees me again. Or even worse, what if her friend the Armoured Titan tries to kill me? Because I don't think it's hard to believe that they will try again if they see me."

Erwin sighed and put the pencil he was holding down, in all his years as Commander, he never thought that his Captain would ever come to him sounding so delirious over not having clearance to take part in an expedition.

"First of all Lucas, you can barely walk without crutches, and you're lucky that yiur leg wasn't broken, because if it was you would be in bed for months waiting for it to heal." Erwin informed him. "Second of all, you are right, you are my best soldier, which is precisely why I will not risk having you eaten by a Titan because you can't run."

"Thirdly, I am aware of your concerns oved seeing Annie Leonhart again, but she wouldn't try anything in a crowded city, just make sure you're never alone with her and you should be fine." He suggested. "And lastly, I know it's difficult to sit by and watch everyone else ride out the gates while you can't do anything, but you need to have faith in us. Levi will take charge of your squad tomorrow, they are in capable hands, so you don't need to worry."

"I don't like that midget." Lucas turned his nose up at hearing Levi's name. "He's still a criminal inside, what's to stop him from taking money from a noble to sabotage everything we've worked to accomplish?"

"I trust Levi with my life, and you should too." Erwin gave his friend a sharp look. "He will not betray us for money, I am sure he wouldn't, not after what he's read about, I can assure you that."

"Whatever." Lucas scoffed at the tall blonde man. "Just make sure he doesn't get my squad killed. Because I will kill him if he does."

"I'm sure you would." Erwin let a smile grace his face for a split second at that moment. "Although I do have a question. You're well within your right to go home and take time off to spend with your family and considering how insistent you were on working from there after your first child, I'm a little confused as to why you're not there now."

"It's because they would baby me and treat me like a piece of glass." He told Erwin. "I hate it when people try to treat me like that, so it's easier for them to just not know about it and think that I'm busy saving the world or some shit like that."

"I thought you would say that." Erwin hummed out. "Very well, you may leave and resume whatever you were doing before."

"I wasn't doing anything, so I'll continue doing that." Lucas remarked as he headed for the door, wobbling his way there as he didn't have his crutches with him, trying to put as little weight on his injured leg as possible.

He had made it halfway down the corridor before a feminine voice called out to him from behind him.

"Captain!" The voice was of one of his new squad members, Petra Ral, and when he looked back she was rushing over to him. "You shouldn't be walking around without your crutches!" She reprimanded. "You need to get back to your bed. Here, I'll help you."

"You sound like my mother." Lucas commented as Petra took his arm around her shoulder to support his weight, helping carry him through the corridors of the Scout HQ.

"Well maybe that's a good thing Captain. You clearly aren't care of yourself like the doctor said you should be." Petra reminded him.

"You do realise who you're talking to?" Lucas asked the redhead.

Immediately Petra had realised her mistake, she should never have talked to a superior like that. "I'm so sorry Captain! I never should have imposed myself like that, please don't make me clean the stables. It won't happen again, I promise!"

"Relax Petra, I was only joking." Lucas informed her, but the way he sounded so serious about it only served to worry the redhead even more. "Well I was mostly joking, but seriously, I'm not like that clean freak midget who will make anyone clean anything just for the sake of cleaning it."

"You mean Corporal Levi?" Petra asked as they turned the corner, her Captain still hobbling along with her support. "I don't think he's as bad as you make him out to be Captain. Sure he likes to keep things around the HQ clean, but if he didn't organise cleaning then people could easily become sick."

"Don't you like to keep dirt away from you hair?" Petra recalled hearing some rumors about how Captain Ackerman was obsessed with keeping his hair clean. "Isn't that a little hypocritical to dislike Corporal Levi for liking to clean when you do the same thing with your hair?"

"Do not compare me to him again Petra unless you want to be cleaning the stables from dusk till dawn." Lucas warned her. "And for your information, keeping myself clean is completely different from having an obsession to keep everything in a mile radius clean. That man is a clean freak, there are no two ways about it."

"If you say so Captain." Petra couldn't help but roll her eyes at his pettiness over the topic of cleaning, helping him hobble around one more corner until they reached his office and walked inside, helping him sit in the chair behind the desk.

"Thanks Petra for you know, carrying my ass back here." He thanked her for helping him. "But there's something I need you to do for me. Go find Nanaba and send her here, tell her I need to talk to her."

"Yes Sir. I can do that." Petra spun around once she was sure he wasn't going to hurt himself any more and strode out of his office and shut the door behind her, starting her search for the blonde veteran.

It only took a few minutes before someone knocked on the door and it opened, revealing the woman that he was looking for, his best friend Nanaba. Evidently Petra was eager to impress with the speed that Nanaba had arrived with, something he made sure to take a note of.

"Captain, what is it you-" Nanaba began, only to have Lucas raise his hand to interrupt her.

"Don't give me that Nanaba, we're friends. You don't have to address me as Sir or Captain whenever we're alone." He reminded her for what felt like the umpteenth time, but he couldn't fault her, it was drilled into her to respect the superior officers. "Now come on, sit, there's something I need to tell you."

Nanaba smiled at the way he just disregarded the proper way to address a superior as she sat across from him, it was just like him to do so. "I was surprised when Petra found me and told me you needed to talk to me, so what's this about?"

"First of all, what I say cannot leave this room... ever." He looked at her, extremely serious about the situation. "And this isn't one of those things you can tell to people you trust, I mean as in this never gets talked about again unless I bring it up, understand?"

"Uhh, yeah?" Nanaba was definitely confused now, she had no idea what was going on, or what had him so serious all of a sudden. "You're kinda scaring me to be honest, what the hell are you talking about?"

"We aren't the last surviving members of humanity Nanaba." He bluntly told her the truth. "Humanity does live on outside the walls, and the Royal Government has been lying to us about it for over a hundred years."

"... What?" Nanaba asked, in complete and total shock from what she had just been told. "You... you can't be serious... but the Titans, how would people even survive out there? Even we can't get that far..."

"We live on an Island where Titans are sent to cage us in like animals. We are surrounded by something called the ocean, a large body of salt water that can't be drained." Lucas started explaining to her. "The Government tries to cut Scout funding so we can't discover what's on the outside of the walls so they can continue living with power while the people continue to live in ignorance."

"Hold on a second, you said the Titans were sent here." Nanaba pointed out, only just beginning to wrap her head around what he just said. She believed him though, he would never lie to her about something this serious. "Does that mean someone is controlling the Titans and is sending them to eat us? Why would someone want to do that?"

"Nanaba, you need to stay calm for what I'm about to say next, can you do that for me?" Nanaba nodded in response, after hearing what he just said about them not being the last humans left, how bad could it be? "We are part of a race known as Eldians, and the rest of the world hates us. It's because when you give an Eldian some Titan spinal fluid, they... turn into Titans... and the only way to turn back is to eat a human with one of nine special Titan powers."

Nanaba immediately felt like throwing up when he finished talking, she felt nauseous and when she stood up she was dizzy. She wobbled a little before her body gave way and collapsed, but before she could hit the floor Lucas stood up, rushed around the desk and caught her in his arms, keeping her standing by wrapping her up into a tight hug.

"I know what you're feeling Nanaba, but killing them is a mercy to them. They have no control over what they think or do, there isn't enough powers to turn them all back, so we do what we have to in order to release them from their eternal hell."

Slowly Nanaba wrapped her arms around his body, her knees still weak and she was struggling to stand upright, she also still felt like throwing up all over him. "How... how long have you known? And who else knows?"

"It's only me, Erwin, Hange, Mike and Levi that know about this, as for how long..." He trailed off at the end of the sentence. "It's been almost five years since they found out, I was told a few days before I disclosed the information to them."

Gently he set Nanaba back down in the seat, who had a hand on her head and a confused look on her face. "Why are you telling me this? Why not Gelgar, Petra or Oluo?"

"I'll tell Gelgar very soon. I chose you first because I thought you wouldn't feel the urge to blab about it unlike him." He explained. "Nobody else will know until the information is either leaked somehow or we're forced to go public with it."

"I... I want you to tell me everything." Nanaba requested, having a newfound resolve for the matter after thinking it over for a short while. "Don't leave anything out, not when this is so important."

She wanted to know everything, so he told her everything aside from the fact that his wife was the Founding Titan, because no matter how much he trusted her, he wouldn't trust anyone with that secret, not even his two closest friends.

He told her about the outside world, about Marley and what their hatred of Eldians supposedly stemmed from. He told her about Grisha Yeager and his life story to give her context, including the part about the Owl transforming to save only him at the sea wall.

He told her about Eren Yeager and his importance in taking back Wall Maria, how his Titan power would be the difference between them winning and taking back the island and them losing the upcoming war and being wiped out.

He also told her the truth about what happened to his leg, that he didn't fall down a flight of stairs and fractured it, he told her every relevant detail of what happened when he fought the Female Titan, even including her identity, which when Nanaba found out, to say she was angry was an understatement.

She would have felt exactly the same way if it was Gelgar in his position too. The three of them were as close as they could possibly be after being friends for over ten years and going through the things they had together.

She wanted to kill this Annie Leonhart after learning about what she was and what she had done, not just to him but to all of humanity. Leading a horde of Titans to Shiganshina to make it easier for them to sneak in as refugees was only one of the things she had been told, and she was furious after learning all about them.

Though she had to admit it was cruel to use children as weapons of war, they surely all knew what they were signing up for and what they were going to do, and killing over 250,000 people was not something she was just going to forget.

"Hey!" Lucas snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. "I can see you getting angry Nanaba, and I'm going to tell you right now to stop it. I can't stress this enough, but you cannot let your emotions get the better of you, especially when you come up against them on the battlefield."

"How do you know that we'll be fighting them?" Nanaba asked. "Surely they will tey and avoid you and us because they know that we're the best."

"That doesn't apply here though Nanaba, because there's one thing I didn't tell you." He revealed to her. "Once Eren Yeager graduates and picks the Scouts, we will be the ones watching over him and protecting him from any harm. They will come for him once they find out, and they will try and kill us without any hesitation. I need you to be ready when the time comes for that."

"I will be, and I have faith that the others will be when they find out." She assured him with a serious look. "You don't have to worry Lucas, we'll be prepared when the time comes."

He scoffed after hearing the part about not worrying, because he seemed to be doing a lot of that recently. "I'd be a pretty shitty friend if I didn't worry about you and Gelgar. Hell, I even worry about Petra and Oluo sometimes as well." He admitted. "Ever since they officially joined my squad I can't help but feel responsible for their safety on expeditions."

"Corporal Levi is a capable leader." Nanaba had guessed where this was going. "I'm sure that we'll all be fine for one expedition without you. But look on the bright side, you might get to sleep on the job tomorrow with your injury."

"I am not letting all those brats know about my injury. My mother was lucky to find out about it as is, and I will not give Leonhart the satisfaction of knowing she put me on the sidelines." He argued back.

"I'm sure they won't find out." She smirked a little as she stood up from her seat across from him. "Thank you for trusting me and telling me all of this. I really appreciate the faith you have in me to do so, especially since Erwin didn't want you to say anything to me."

He waited until she reached for the door before he spoke up again. "Will you be alright?" Was the question he asked, a simple yet effective one.

"I'm not sure about that." She turned around to answer him truthfully. "I'm still trying to process it all truthfully. I wont say a word of it though, not even to Gelgar. I promise you that."

"I would say I appreciate that, but you don't really have a choice here." He waved her out of the room, gently lifting his sore leg up onto the desk and leaned back in his chair until it hit the wall, keeping his balance as he closed his eyes, resting up for the mental torture that was to come tomorrow.

(Anniversary of the Fall of Shiganshina)

It was the anniversary of the fall, and the cadets just happened to graduate the night before, so while they waited for the day that they would get to pick their regiments, the Garrison would be taking them and have them help out around the city of Trost.

The Scouts also had an expedition today, one that the people seemed more excited for than usual.

"Heads up! The main unit of the Scout Regiment is back." A citizen announced to the rest, watching them on their horses, the sound of horse shoes clacking against the paved roads clear as day.

"That's right Commander Erwin!" Another citizen piped up. "Did you give those ugly bastards a thrashing?"

"Look, it's Corporal Levi." One citizen pointed out, pointing towards the short male with raven coloured hair. "They say he's like an entire brigade all by himself."

"No way!" Another citizen spoke up to argue with him. "Captain Ackerman is way stronger than Corporal Levi."

"Tch, spare me please." The short man grunted, the four members of the Special Operations Squad all riding behind him as they neared the main gate.

"Feel how excited everybody is?" Eren asked as he watched the Scouts pass by. "It's like the crowd just has a different energy now."

"Well we are going on five years without incident." Hannah pointed out, the ginger girl standing behind Eren with Franz next to her. "Seems like a good omen."

"And you should check out the new cannon upgrades. The sight alone should be enough to scare them off." Franz confidently added in.

"That's the truth." Hannah agreed with him, having to crane her head upwards to look at the tall recruit.

"You in denial because you're a couple? What's that about?" Eren retorted, angry that they were so confident about beating monsters that they had never seen before.

"Woah, woah, woah!" Hannah yelled, turning away and waving her arms at the green eyed boy. "This isn't what it looks like, okay?"

"Knock it off man it's embarrassing." Franz agreed with her, his cheeks flushed pink while Eren grounded his teeth together in frustration.

"Hey, hey. Lookie here." A famiar voice sounded out, a very familiar tall and formerly drunk Garrison Officer.

"Mr Hannes." Eren greeted the man with a smile, she hadn't seen him in years, probably since the wall fell.

"Word on the street is that they let you graduate yesterday." He smiled in return, a slight teasing tone to his voice. "Either you've grown up or standards have plummeted."

"Oh yeah, like you're one to talk. The new Corps of Engineers keep their chief in the drink?" He teased back, getting a flick to the forehead for that.

"Watch it." He warned him, before turning a little more depressed. "I know this is out of the blue, but I'm still ashamed for ditching your mom all those years ago."

"Me too, but it wasn't your fault." Eren firmly replied, surprisingly the tall man a little. "We were shooting in the dark then, but nothing like that's going to happen again. We know what we're dealing with now." His face was determined as he stared down the man, but softened up slightly as he remembered something. "Besides, it all turned out alright in the end. Lucas ended up saving mom anyway, so it didn't really cost anything that bad."

"Speaking of him, I didn't see him riding with the Scouts." Hannes scratched his head a little. "You guys know why that is? I always see him riding near the Commander at the front, so it's a little strange to not see him there."

All eyes went to Mikasa, with Eren, Armin and Hannes all expecting an answer from her. "He fractured his leg falling down a flight of stairs." She curtly answered the three males waiting in anticipation.

"Huh?" Hannes was the first to reply, looking even more confused than he had ever been before in his life. "Falling down the stairs... Is that even possible for someone like him?"

"You can't be serious Mikasa!" Eren was the second to speak up after Hannes, looking more worried than confused. "He's supposed to be the strongest soldier humanity has... how does something like that even happen?"

"Did you believe him when he told you that?" Armin asked inquisitively. "I seriously doubt that he of all people would be that careless."

"He never told me, I found out when I was talking to my mom this morning." Mikasa informed them. "But no, I don't believe it at all, but it's what he said, so we'll just have to go with it until I can ask him about it."

"Well I'm sure he has his reasons for lying about how he fractured his leg or whatever, if he did lie about it that is." Hannes smartly pointed out that he could've been telling the truth about it. "Just don't do anything or ask anything you shouldn't be."

"He is lying." Mikasa spoke up once again. "He's never come home with broken bones before. Something happened to him, and I will find out what happened to him."

"Right then..." Hannes trailed off, not knowing what to say to the girl at that point in time. "I have to go, but I'll see you kids around, and try not to break anything on your first day Eren."

"Hey!" The green eyed boy protested that jab at him, but Hannes was right, they also had to get to work.

About an hour or so later, a number of Cadets were on top of the wall over the outer gate, cleaning the cannons and making any minor repairs that needed to be made. It was relatively quiet and peaceful, until Connie decided to speak up about joining the Scouts.

"What?" Eren couldn't believe what he had just heard. "The hell you mean you're joining the Scouts? What about the MP? That was your whole thing."

"Don't worry about it. A guys allowed to change his mind, okay?" Connie retorted, not wanting to admit that Eren's speech from yesterday had a lasting impact on his views.

"I think your speech yesterday lit a fire under him." Mina told him, walking up behind Eren who had now stopped cleaning the cannon.

"Aint nobody talkin' to you!" Connie yelled at the short girl, turning his head to face them. "His temper tantrum had nothing to do with it."

"Take it easy." Thomas spoke up, joining the others at the top of the gate. "It's not like you're the only one." He pointed out, scratching his sideburns a little.

"What?" Eren looked even more confused now. "Are you serious?"

"Can you guys keep a secret?" Sasha spoke up as she also arrived at the top of the wall, showing them a slab of meat hidden inside her jacket. "Cause I totally just helped myself to the Officers pantry."

"Sasha! They could throw your ass in the clink for that." Eren informed her.

"Seriously? What is wrong with you?"

"What isn't wrong with her?"

Sasha on the other hand was drooling, and her face was heating up at the prospect of tasting the meat. "It'll be fine, I'm willing to share. Oh, could you imagine the sandwiches?" She asked, continuing to drool and make some funny noises.

"Put it back!" Connie ordered her, not wanting either Sasha or himself to get into trouble for this.

"Yeah." Mina agreed with him. "Do you have any idea how rare meat has been since the Titan's took Wall Maria?"

"Um, yeah. A little bit." Sasha confirmed, walking towards a case to hide the meat in. "Just look at it this way, pretty soon, we'll take back all the room we need for livestock."

Samuel took in a deep breath before talking. "I would really like a slice please!"

"Hey if he gets one then so do I... just so you know." Connie added in.

"Me too. I'm in on it too." Mina counted herself in.

"Uh... but..." Eren trailed off, not knowing whether to accept or not.

"Come on. Don't just stand there." Samuel warned them. "If they catch us slacking off, we're in for it."

"See you guys at lunchtime." Mina waved them goodbye as she went off to return to her post.

Eren stood proudly as he faced the city, he had finally graduated and become a soldier, and soon he would be able to fulfill all the promises he had made to himself and to others.

Suddenly there was an explosion behind him and a rush of wind, with a bright light being seen for only a split second.

Turning his head slowly, he came face to face with the Colossal Titan, it's huge head sitting right in front of him, so agonisingly close yet so far away. With a loud crash and rumble, the outer gate was destroyed by a kick, debris and wind being blown around inside of the city, many of the defensive wooden barricades being broken like toothpicks.

A burst of hot steam forced all the Cadets on top of the wall off the inside, blasting them into the air but crucially giving them time to activate their ODM gear, saving them from a fifty metre drop.

Though not all of them could attach themselves to the wall, with Samuel having hit his head and becoming unconscious, his lone wire giving way and his body starting the plummet down.

"Samuel!" Connie yelled out in desperation more than anything else, she couldn't do anything, not in her position at least.

Sasha was alert though, her instincts were on point as per usual, letting her wires unspool as she ran parallel down the wall, going her fastest in order to catch him.

Sasha fired her hook at Samuel's leg, hitting him directly in the back of his calf, injuring him severly, but saving his life in the process as he dangled helplessly upside down.

"Try not to move!" Sasha yelled down at the boy, the only sounds coming from him were faint groans of pain. "Understand?!"

The rest of the Cadets looked down, spotting the massive amount of damage to the front gate, but most off all, the giant hole that the Titans could get through.

"They're gonna get in, they're gonna get in." Connie rambled to himself. "They're gonna get in!" He screamed.

" _No, this is over. I'm gonna put a stop to this._ " Eren though to himself. "I will... this ends now." He mumbled out loud.

"This is it people! Do or die!" He yelled at the top of his lungs, drawing both of his blades, starting his ascent to the top. "Mounted Cannon Squad Four, take out the Colossal Titan!" He ordered. "This is our chance! Don't let it slip away!"

Eren launched himself up the walls and through the steam at the top of the wall, spinning as he landed on his feet, staring down the Colossal Titan yet again, his bright green eyes burning with a hatred fueled passion like no other.

"You... it's been a while..." Eren gritted his teeth together as he spoke, his grip tightening on his gear as he did so.

Sprinting on top of the wall towards his target, Eren noticed the Colossal Titan lift it's arm up and start to swing it towards him, the size of the monster making it very slow, and allowed Eren to easily jump off the wall and out of the way, but the destruction was immense, destroying all the cannons and the rails on top of the outer gate, turning them into dust and debris with one movement.

" _Son of a bitch. He took out the cannons._ " Eren swore inwardly as he circled around the Colossal Titan. " _The gate was no accident then. He... he planned it... He has intelligence!_ "

A giant red muscled hand shot out of the mass amounts of steam, giving him almost no time to dodge, but again the slow movement allowed him to slip underneath with the use of his speedy and agile ODM gear, hooking onto him and attempting to use its size to his advantage.

" _All the reason to not waste any time!_ " Eren landed on his arm now. " _Without him, the other Titans have nothing!"_ He began sprinting along his arm towards his nape. " _I've gotta take him down!_ " He thought, jumping off as the arm started to move, circling around to his nape.

"Damnit!" Eren hooked onto the bastards nape, reeling himself in close and priming his blades to strike. "Take this!" He was inches away from winning the war, but at the last possible second, a huge wave of steam shot out from the Colossal Titan, almost blowing him away, but he managed to hold on and pull the trigger once again, reeling himself in closer until he let out a roar and slashed at the nape.

His blades sliced nothing though, instead of a huge skinless Titan, there was nothing but thin air, with Eren being shocked and dropping out of the sky until he stopped herself by hooking onto the wall.

" _How did I miss?_ " He scanned the surrounding area, but there was nothing in sight, not even a decaying body, only the giant hole left behind in the gate by the Colossal Titan. " _What the... did he just vanish into thin air?_ "

 **A/N- Hello again! I am so sorry for neglecting this story for so long, and I don't have an excuse for it, so it's my fault for that. I will be trying my best to write more consistently if you're willing to be patient with me for each chapter.**

 **On a side note, I know the end section was focused on Eren, but that's because I wanted to introduce the Colossal Titan and have it breach the wall. You will get to see what Lucas was up to during that sequence of events in the next chapter.**

 **Until next time, I hope you enjoyed!**


End file.
